From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Jan 7 19:49:55 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 14:49:55 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "The World of Realities," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010107144930.00cb9c80@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The World of Realities By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, January 7, 2001 Communion Sunday Readings: Psalm 93: The Lord on high is mighty! The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea-- the Lord on high is mighty. Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord. John 6:53-59 Real food and real drink Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Arcana Coelestia #4623 Real life Whatever comes from the Divine--that is, from the Lord--is real, since it comes from the essential reality within things, and from what is living in itself. But whatever comes from our ego is not real, since it does not come from the essential reality within things nor from what is living in itself. If we love goodness and truth, we have the Lord's life within us; so we have the life that is real. For the Lord is present within goodness and truth through our love for them. Sermon: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." (John 6:54, 55) As some of you know, I love reading classic New Church (Swedenborgian) literature. I especially love books published in the early 1800s, when the writings of Swedenborg were still fresh and new on this earth, and there were still people alive who could have known Emanuel Swedenborg. I just started reading a beautiful 1825 book of lectures by a great New Church writer, the Rev. Samuel Noble, titled _The Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures Asserted, and the Principles of their Composition Investigated, with a View to the Refutation of All Objections to their Divinity._ They really knew how to title books back then! Before starting in on this book, I finished reading the Memoir of another of my favorite early New Church ministers, the Rev. John Clowes. Clowes was a fascinating figure because though he fully accepted the teachings found in Swedenborg's writings, he never left the Anglican Church. In fact, he continued to preach Swedenborgian ideas from his Anglican pulpit in Manchester, England, for nearly sixty years, until he died at the age of 88. He believed that the teachings found in Swedenborg's writings could and should be spread abroad to the entire Christian world, rather than keeping them enclosed within a specific Swedenborgian organization. And the strength of the New Church in the Manchester area ever since is a continuing legacy of his long and tireless ministry of outreach. In 1834, three years after his death, the memoir of Clowes's life that he had written at the request of his friends was published in Manchester, together with many of his letters. Reading this volume is like traveling back in time to the early days of the New Church in England, when Swedenborg's ideas were just catching on, and the new light of truth that I spoke of in last week's sermon was just dawning upon the world. There is a sense of excitement in new discovery shining out from the pages, all in that reserved English writing style. There are many delightful observations and thought provoking passages in this book. But as sometimes happens, in my last session with it--in which I finished the book--one phrase jumped out at me, and sent my mind into a whole chain of reflections. On page 245, without much context, Clowes makes a passing reference to "the world of realities." "The world of realities." What is the world of realities? For most people on this earth--and probably for most of us most of the time--_this_ is the world of realities. A chair that we can sit on. Food that we can eat. Clothes that we can wear. Cars that we can drive. Houses that we can live in. These are all _real._ We can see them. We can hear them. We can touch them. We can taste them. And if we bang too hard on something _real,_ it hurts! For those who truly believe that this material world and its possessions and pleasures are the ultimate reality, this life can be a rather limited and frustrating affair. Consider someone who thinks that having lots of money is the most important thing. Money is a hard taskmaster. For everyone who has a lot of it, there are a hundred, or a thousand, or a million who do not, yet long for it. And even those who have it, if they put their heart in it, are seldom truly satisfied and happy with what they have. They always see something even more fancy and expensive, which they want and cannot quite afford. In the end, there is little real joy in the pursuit of material wealth. Or, to get more personal, consider those who live only for physical pleasures. Many people on this earth--especially men, I'm afraid--spend much of their time longing for their next sexual encounter, or going over in their minds their previous ones. And though they may be inclined to brag about their great sexual prowess, the fact is that few people who put sexual pleasure first have truly satisfying experiences. Like any addiction, it is never quite as good as they'd hoped. They are always searching for that perfect encounter, which never quite seems to happen. And any relationships they form tend not to last, because they are built on a desire for pleasure rather than on love for their partner. Of course, there are many other physical pleasures that people spend their lives running after. Food. Clothes. The perfect body. The ultimate driving machine. The list could go on and on. And of course, others do not particularly go for money or physical pleasures as their primary goal, but spend their lives seeking power and prestige, fame and influence. As attractive as they seem, these, too, are fleeting. People can put these things first in their lives only if they believe that this world is the world of realities. If this world, with its money, possessions, pleasures, and power is the most real thing there is, then it only stands to reason that we should spend our lives in getting as much of that reality as we can. As the old beer commercial used to proclaim, "You only go around once in life. Grab all the gusto you can." (By drinking lots of beer.) When we think this world is the most real thing, our enemies are poverty, powerlessness, pain, and--the ultimate and inevitable enemy--death. And in the end, even if we manage to avoid the others, we will all surrender to death, losing everything we had lived for. This is the depressing end for those who see this material world as the world of realities. Such people would have trouble seeing anything good at all in our reading from John: Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. I can hear their reactions ringing in my ears: "Gross! Barbaric! Disgusting!" As I've observed in a previous sermon on this passage, we are told in the subsequent verses that many people were, indeed, offended by this statement, and stopped following Jesus when they heard it. Those who did, saw this material world as the world of realities. They naturally interpreted Jesus' words literally, as if they were talking about physical things. And those who read these words today and are offended by them also see this material world as the word of realities. For some, this is a chosen philosophical position: they have rejected the possibility of a higher, spiritual world and a divine being, and believe that the material world is all there is. And for these people, there can be little meaning or message in Jesus' words. For others though, it is not a matter of rejecting God and spirit. Many people simply haven't encountered God and spirit in a way that makes these real and alive for them. Some have no particular desire to do so, and probably wouldn't bother reading Jesus' words. But others are open to deeper realities, even seeking deeper realities, and simply need those realities to be illustrated both for their minds and in their lives. Presumably I am "preaching to the choir," and anyone following this sermon is either actively engaged in a spiritual life and a relationship with God, or is seeking God and spirit. For us, reading this passage in John is like a spiritual thermometer. It can tell us whether our spiritual atmosphere is cold because we are more engaged in material realities, or whether our spiritual atmosphere is warm because the true world of realities--the world of God and spirit--has come alive for us. If our minds form disturbing images of cannibalistic rituals, we're stuck in the reality of the physical world. But if these words of Jesus bring our minds to warm and joyful thoughts of higher, spiritual realities, then we have broken through the barrier into the true world of realities. Swedenborg could have been commenting on this passage when he wrote the passage in _Arcana Coelestia_ that we read earlier: Whatever comes from the Divine--that is, from the Lord--is real, since it comes from the essential reality within things, and from what is living in itself. But whatever comes from our ego is not real, since it does not come from the essential reality within things nor from what is living in itself. If we love goodness and truth, we have the Lord's life within us; so we have the life that is real. For the Lord is present within goodness and truth through our love for them. "If we love goodness and truth, we have the Lord's life within us, so we have the life that is real." Jesus was saying the very same thing when he continued, in our passage from John: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. Jesus was not speaking materially, but spiritually when he spoke of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. In that higher world of realities, the flesh of Jesus is not mere physical muscles or organs, but the divine, spiritual flesh of God's love and goodness. And the blood of Jesus is not anything that could run in physical veins and arteries, but the life-giving, nourishing wisdom and truth that flows into our minds from God through a multitude of spiritual "arteries" or channels. A few of the major spiritual "arteries" through which we receive this wisdom and truth are the Bible, the Church, our family members and friends, spiritual books, the world of nature, and for us, of course, the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. From these sources, and in many other ways, we gain the continually renewed flow of knowledge and inspiration that we need to nourish and replenish our minds with a new and continually deeper understanding of the wonders of the material world around us, the complexities of the interpersonal world of our relationships with one another, and the mysteries of the inner world of our hearts, minds, and souls. The "blood of Jesus" that we drink in our communion service is merely a physical symbol of the deeper, life-giving, _spiritual_ blood of God's truth coming to us in so many ways, both outward and inward. Similarly, the "flesh of Jesus" that we eat in our communion service is merely a symbol of the true food of love and goodness. Yet even if we _want_ these to be realities for us, there are times when truth and love seem a bit abstract to us, while flesh and blood, our bodies and our possessions, seem much more real. To bring out the reality of truth and love over flesh and blood, I'd like to share a little incident with you, which I expect will resonate with experiences you have had as well. It happened several months ago when I was putting Heidi (my eleven year old daughter) to bed. Of course, I have a routine for the kids' bedtime, which varies according to whether Patty is putting them to bed or I am. But I always give them each a kiss and hug, and tell them that I love them. Whatever happened _during_ the day, at the _end_ of the day, before they go to sleep, I like them to know that they are loved. However, routines get to be habitual--that's why they're called routine. And that bedtime kiss and hug and "I love you" can sometimes get perfunctory, and perhaps be received as something done out habit rather than as an expression of real feelings. One night, as I put Heidi to bed, I was touched with especially strong feelings of love for her. So I gave her a few extra kisses, and stroked her hair, and told her I that loved her. She looked at me and said simply, from the soul, "You really do love me." At that moment, knowing that she was loved meant far more to her than whether she would have the right clothes to wear the next day or whether she would look just right or whether she would win the approval of her friends. She was loved, and she could sleep in peace. That is the greatest reality there is. We are loved. We are loved by God. This is an eternal truth that comes straight from the world of realities. And as we share the sacrament of communion together, we will partake of that world of realities if we know in our minds, and feel in our hearts, that as we partake in the bread and wine of communion, our minds are drinking in the Lord's truth, and our hearts are being filled with the Lord's love. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Jan 14 23:46:42 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 18:46:42 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "David and Goliath," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010114184557.00d05720@pop.ne.mediaone.net> David and Goliath By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, January 14, 2001 Readings: 1 Samuel 17:32-50: David kills Goliath David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you." Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield-bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands." As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. Matthew 4:1-11 The temptation of Jesus Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (Deut. 8:3) Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone'" (Ps. 91:11, 12) Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'" (Deut. 6:16). Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only'" (Deut. 6:13). Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Sermon: David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty" (1 Samuel 17:45) My message for you this morning is simple: If we have faith in God and in God's Word, we can overcome, no matter how great the odds against us may seem. At the time of our Old Testament reading, the situation was not looking good for the Israelites. Yes, after a long period of instability and regional leaders, the people were finally unified under a single leader: king Saul. And what a king! He was a big, tall man: a head taller than all the others-a man who stood out in the crowd. And the people liked that. They liked a big, tall, strong man to give them confidence and lead them in battle. If only Saul had been big, tall, and strong in spirit as well as in body, things may have been going better. But despite some early victories of the Israelites over their enemies under Saul, it soon became apparent that he could not lead the people of God. For all his physical size and strength, Saul lacked the _spiritual_ size and strength to follow the will of the Lord. He was continually doing things his own way instead of God's way. Because of this, the spirit of God left him, and he grew less and less able to stand against Israel's enemies. The scene for today's battle was simple and stark. In the hills on one side of the small Valley of Elah the Israelite army was camped, with Saul as its commander. Facing them on the opposite side of the valley was the fearsome army of the Philistines-a nation that the Israelites never did entirely subdue. The armies would come out each day and face one another across that valley, shouting their war cries, trying to win the battle psychologically before they even engaged in physical combat. The Philistines were winning the psychological battle. Saul may have been a head taller than any of his fighting men, but he was a dwarf compared to Goliath, who stood over nine feet tall, as the story is told. Each day, day after day, for forty days this huge giant of a man came out and taunted the Israelites, challenging them to send out a warrior who could face and defeat him in battle. It was a time-honored practice. Instead of engaging in battle with the entire army, with all the resulting bloodshed, each side would send out a champion. The two would fight, and the side whose champion won would be declared the victor, while the side whose champion lost would surrender, and become subject to the other side. One look at Goliath convinced Saul's men that it would be a losing battle. For forty days, not a single man came forward to face Goliath. Until David came along. And he couldn't properly be called a man: he was a mere youth. Further, he was not a trained soldier, but a shepherd and a musician. An unlikely champion to stand against a giant who was likely twice his height, and a battle-trained, hardened warrior. Yet the shepherd and musician was the one who volunteered to go against Goliath, whom none of Israel's soldiers had the courage to face. And since Saul was seriously in need of a champion, and this young man was brave and well-spoken, he had little to lose in sending him out against Goliath. David tried out Saul's armor, but chose instead to fight Goliath armed only with his familiar shepherd's staff and sling. He chose five smooth stones from the stream that separated the two armies, and then he was ready. When Goliath, the warrior champion, saw the one that the Israelites had sent against him, he responded with derision. Why, this young boy wasn't even a real opponent. He had no armor, no weapons worthy of the name. It would be a simple matter to dispatch him. And this Goliath said he would do, as he called down curses on David by his gods. David was not deterred, nor was he afraid. "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin," he said, "but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies if Israel, whom you have defied." And he informed Goliath that he and his Philistine army would be the ones suffering death and defeat that day. When Goliath moved forward to attack, David did not hesitate, but ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. He had no intention of defending himself from this Philistine; his plan was to strike the first blow, and dispatch the Philistine giant before he had a chance to use his impressive weaponry. That is exactly what David did. Reaching into his familiar shepherd's bag, he took out a stone, and with an accuracy that came from long practice and from an unshakable faith in God, his stone flew straight and true, and felled Goliath instantly. In the aftermath of this astounding victory of a young, nearly unarmed boy against the Philistine's powerful champion, the Philistine camp descended into confusion and panic. They turned and fled. The effect on the Israelites, who had been trembling with fear at Goliath's taunts for the last forty days, was just the opposite: emboldened by David's heroism and his victory, they surged forward and routed the Philistine army in a great defeat. This is the familiar Bible story that captivates children-especially young boys. It has become a metaphor in our society, representing every struggle and triumph of the downtrodden "little guy" against powerful institutions and individuals who would oppress them. It has inspired generations of people to have faith in God and continue to fight for what is right even when the odds against success seem overwhelming. We all enjoy hearing David and Goliath stories. This week I heard the story of how a twelve year old boy named Hunter Scott, after a lot of research into the sinking of the Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis in 1945, went on a mission of his own to exonerate the captain of that vessel, Charles McVay, from the court martial that had followed the sinking. McVay, whose promising career was ruined by the court martial, eventually committed suicide after reading one hostile letter too many from a relative of one of the victims of the sinking. Like most of the surviving crew members, Hunter Scott was convinced that the court martial was unjustified. And he went all the way to the U.S. Congress to press his case. Thanks in large part to his efforts, Congress has just passed a law exonerating Captain McVay fifty years after the sinking. It was inspiring to hear a twelve year old boy speak of his conviction that an injustice had been done, and his determination to right that wrong even if it meant facing the U.S. Congress. We have David and Goliath stories even today. We may not all get involved in struggles against the governments, armed forces, and political powers of this world. But the story of David and Goliath resonates with us not only because we continue to admire those who stand up for what is good and right against great odds, but because we, too, must face our own giants. We, too, need the encouragement of feeling that even though the odds may be stacked up against us, there is a far greater power behind us, by which we can prevail. In popular lore, the Philistines have come to stand for every worldly and materialistic power that oppresses simple, honest people. And David stands for the courage of simple, honest people who stand up to the Goliaths of this world. Swedenborg gives a more specific meaning to Goliath and David, relating especially to our own inner, spiritual life. Though the story of David and Goliath can be interpreted to apply to the larger events of our society, it gains its greatest power for us when we realize that David and Goliath refer to elements of our own personality and our own inner experience. As we explored during Advent through the stories of Joshua, our life involves many inner battles. All to often, the emotional and spiritual battle lines are drawn within us. The opposing forces within us face off against each other, challenging one another. And the result will determine whether we will be ruled by our higher self or by our lower self. Our battles with the Philistines within us are particularly difficult ones. In traditional Swedenborgian terms, the Philistines represent faith separated from charity. In more current language, they symbolize the idea that it is enough to _know_ what is right without actually _acting_ on it; the idea that the most important thing is to be _right_ about things, and that showing thoughtfulness and kindness to others is a secondary consideration. If we are in the grip of our inner Philistines, we tend to be proud of our own intelligence, believing that we are better than others because we see and understand things better than they do. We may think that we are doing others a great favor if we show them the error of their ways, and give them our prescription for how to straighten themselves out. This is especially "Philistine" of us if we do it less because we really love them and care about them, and more to prove that we are right and they are wrong. However, not everyone gets caught up in pride and intellectual conceit. In fact, some of us have a rather low opinion of ourselves; if anything, suffer from _low_ self-esteem rather than an overabundance of it. I believe there is an aspect of Goliath that relates to us when we are facing that "giant" enemy of frustration, depression, and inner defeat as well. Because it is a matter of what we focus on, and where we put our trust. In David's speech to Goliath, notice the contrast between what Goliath trusts in and what David trusts in. Goliath puts his trust in his sword, his spear, and his javelin-his prized weapons, made of wood and bronze and iron, which he uses to physically attack his enemies. In our own lives, when we focus on _our own_ mental and emotional equipment, and on the apparent hopelessness of our situation, the obstacles to overcoming either our own intellectual pride or our own depression and self-defeatism do loom up like a giant inner enemies, before which we tremble in fear. David was not carrying any of these solid, heavy weapons. But he put his trust in something far greater: the name of the Lord Almighty. In contrast to Goliath, who drew both his identity and his strength from the outward, physical weapons of war, David drew his identity and strength from within and above himself. Though his simple shepherd's staff and sling seemed woefully inadequate against the heavily armed Goliath, he had something far more powerful that the Philistine lacked: a firm and well-grounded faith in the greater power of God against all enemies. We can draw upon the same power when we are facing our inner Goliaths-whether they be excessive pride in ourselves or a lack of confidence in ourselves. Sometimes tend to focus on that fearsome, taunting Goliath which tells us that we can never hope to become anything more than a slave to our lower selves, to our old patterns. But each of us also has a David inside us. Each of us has a conviction hidden away within us that there is a greater force in the universe than anything this earth can throw against us. Perhaps our "David" is still innocently tending the sheep in obscurity, and we have not discovered that strength yet. But it is there. And we, too, can call upon that strength when we've had enough of the taunting of our lower nature. Even if every theory and argument and resolve and technique that we've ever thrown against our inner Goliaths has failed, there lies hidden within us, in a place we may not suspect, the power to overcome. That power is not our power. As long as we trust in ourselves, and think we can pull ourselves out of whatever rut we are in, we will lose. But we will begin to win the victory as soon as we can say, with David, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty." When we can approach our inner battles with that kind of faith, the defeat of our Goliaths is inevitable. And Jesus shows us how to accomplish that defeat. Each time the Devil tempted him, he drew out a simple, tried and tested truth from Scripture. These tried and true spiritual principles are the five smooth stones, rounded and honed in the streams of our life experience, which David used to fell Goliath. If we have faith in God and in God's Word, we can overcome, no matter how great the odds against us may seem. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Jan 29 01:45:23 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 20:45:23 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Solomon's Glory," By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010128203539.02df7310@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Solomon's Glory By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, January 28, 2001 Readings: 1 Kings 10:14-25: Solomon's glory The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas of gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days. The king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons. King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift--articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. Luke 12:22-34: Treasure in heaven Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Apocalypse Explained #70: Metals in the Bible In the Bible, "gold" symbolizes heavenly goodness, which is the deepest kind of goodness. "Silver" symbolizes the truth that goes with it, which is spiritual goodness. "Brass" symbolizes natural goodness, which is the most outward kind of goodness, and "iron" symbolizes the truth that goes with it, which is natural truth. Metals have these meanings from correspondences. In heaven, many things are seen shining as if from gold and silver, and many things are also seen shining as if from brass and iron. There, they know that these things symbolize the good and true things I just mentioned. This is why the ancients, who knew correspondences, named the ages according to these metals. They called the first age "golden" because innocence and love, and the resulting wisdom, reigned then. They called second age "silver" because truth from that goodness, or spiritual goodness, and the resulting intelligence reigned then. They called the third age "bronze" or "copper" because mere natural goodness, which is justice and sincerity of moral life, reigned then. And they called the last age "iron" because mere truth without good reigned then; and when that rules, falsity also rules. All of this came from the spiritual meaning of these metals. Sermon: All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days. (1 Kings 10:21) Have you had enough of battles and wars and trials and temptations? In our journey through the Bible, we have been going through some tough times in the last couple of months. Starting with the enslavement of the Children of Israel in Egypt, the story has been one long struggle with only a few pauses here and there. Breaking free from the Egyptian slavery under the leadership of Moses. Forty years of wandering in the desert, facing enemies all along the way. The initial conquest of the Holy Land under Joshua. The period of the Judges, when one enemy after another rose up against the Israelites, and the Lord raised up heroes such as Gideon and Samson to subdue them. The first two kings of Israel, Saul and David, whose reigns were spent conquering the remaining enemies of Israel and enlarging their territory to its greatest extent ever. The story line of the Bible from the beginning of the Book of Exodus through the end of 2 Samuel is filled with battles. As we've explored in the sermons over the past couple of months, our lives can feel that way, too. There are times when we face one personal battle after another. Sometimes we feel that we are making progress; other times we feel that we will be stuck in these struggles forever, with no end in sight. And that can get very discouraging. And yet, just as the six days of labor give way to the seventh day of rest, our "six days" of labor give way to a seventh day of inner, spiritual rest. The Israelites spent forty years wandering in the desert, facing heat and drought, hunger and enemies. Then they were led across the Jordan to their Holy Land. Later, King David reigned for forty years--a reign full of battles against the Israelites' enemies on all sides. These battles prepared the way for the glorious and peaceful reign of King Solomon. In each case, the forty years represented our time of trial and temptation, which eventually leads to a time of peace and fulfillment. In fact, in the original Hebrew, the very name "Solomon" means "peace." As long as his reign lasted, there was peace in the land of Israel. This reign of peace also ushered in a time of great prosperity, so that in the history of Israel, Solomon became synonymous not only with peace and with wisdom, but with glory, wealth, and splendor. Solomon built the first and only navy that the Israelites ever had. It was not a navy of warships, but rather of trading ships--what we would today call a merchant marine. Solomon's trading ships sailed to distant lands procuring precious metals, ivory, fine hardwoods, and exotic animals. Solomon also traded by land with all the neighboring nations. His land lay at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe, which meant that he could make a handsome profit for his kingdom by importing and exporting horses and other valuable trade items, as well as taking tribute from merchant caravans passing through. As I was reading about Solomon's glory, one verse jumped out at me: "All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days." A few verses after our reading, it explains why silver was considered of little value: "The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones." It's not that people didn't appreciate the qualities of silver; rather, there was so much of it around that it was practically taken for granted. The royal court, of course, would have only the finest of materials for its utensils. And silver being as commonplace as it was, everything in Solomon's court was made of pure gold. In a very literal sense, the reign of Solomon was a "golden age." The glory of Solomon's reign did not last. Yes, he also was on the throne for forty years--a good long time for a king to reign in those days. But despite his wisdom, he allowed all that wealth and power to go to his head. His excesses paved the way for the breakup of the nation soon after his death. From there, the history of the Israelites was all down hill. Our times of peace and spiritual rest usually don't last either--at least, not while we are still living here on earth. Yes, there are a few people in the "golden age" of their lives who have apparently completed their battles, and who finish out their lives in a state of great inner peace and contentment. But for most of us, after a plateau when things move along smoothly for us, it is back to the grindstone of emotional and spiritual labor. Still, one of the Ten Commandments is to "remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." And when we do have those times of rest, we squander that gift from the Lord if we spend our time worrying about how long it will last, and what will come at us next. In our times of rest, it is best simply to rest, enjoy the blessings the Lord has given us, and give thanks for this foretaste of heaven right here on earth. Today, I would like to move beyond the dark shadows of spiritual war that we have been engaging in lately, and look at what brings us to peace after those inner wars are over. Of course, one of the things that brings peace is the successful completion of the war itself. For Israel, it was only after they had conquered all of the enemies in the land, and put to tribute many of the surrounding peoples, that they were at last able to enjoy peace in their land. For the time being at least, no enemy threatened them anymore. The wars we face are against our _inner_ enemies: our self-centered tendencies, our materialistic desires, our old, faulty habit patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting that continually rise up against us, trying to tear us down. We enjoy our times of peace when we have at last subdued some major inner enemy, and can enjoy the serenity of not having to contend with it anymore. To use a fairly common example, let's consider a marriage that is going through a period of strain. The two are not communicating well with one another. Each feels overworked and under-appreciated. Due to the tensions, small issues get magnified. Most of the time it is under control, but sometimes tempers flare. The inner resentments that have been building up in each burst out into open conflict. There are emotional casualties on both sides from these battles. And if things continue in this way without a conscious effort toward resolution and reconciliation, it will eventually lead to the breakup of the marriage. Let's say this particular couple decides they do not want that to happen. Now it is a matter of seeking out some approach to understand and deal with the conflicts that have developed. Perhaps they go to counseling. Perhaps they go to marriage enrichment workshops or read self-help books on how to improve relationships. Perhaps they simply spend some intensive time together consciously working out their differences. This, too, is a struggle. Because if we truly wish to improve our relationships, it is necessary to turn the battle that was formerly with our partner inward, and battle those parts of ourselves that are keeping us from being in loving, harmonious relationship with our partner. We may have to stop thinking so much about our own hurt feelings and pay more attention to the ways our partner feels neglected, unappreciated, and unloved. When we are used to focusing on our own feelings, it can be hard to redirect our attention. Of course, for different people and different couples the battles will be different. But if they are winning battles, they will always involve personal change and growth in each partner. At first it takes a lot of conscious effort and a great deal of inner struggle to change our attitudes and our approach, so that we can start thinking, feeling, and acting in a new and better way. We may be tempted to give up and fall back into our old patterns, thinking that it will always be a struggle, and it is just not worth it. But if we persist, a wonderful thing happens! At first it was an effort to say a kind word instead of a jealous one, to say thank you instead of taking our partner's efforts for granted, to pitch in and help where formerly we would have dragged our feet. But more and more, we find that we enjoy all of these new ways of being. Instead of feeling like these are irksome tasks that we must force ourselves to do, we begin to take joy and pleasure in showing thoughtfulness and love to our partner. One day we will suddenly discover that it has ceased to be a struggle. In fact, we no longer even have to think about it. Because now we _love_ to pitch in, to say thank you, to offer an encouraging word. It gives us an inner peace and joy that we had never experienced before. We feel a new richness of spiritual life, both within ourselves and in our relationship with our partner. We have arrived at our own "golden age" of peace and love, when the "silver" of enlightened thought and mutual understanding is so commonplace that we no longer even think about it. This is the meaning of Solomon making silver as common as stones. And the gold that all of his goblets and household articles were made of is the gold of mutual love. It is only when we arrive at a stage in our lives where we are acting from love--love for God and love for one another--that we experience true peace. Isn't this what our struggles are all about? Learning to understand one another better, to love one another better, and to love God above all? These are the treasures that we store up for ourselves in heaven, which will bless us with eternal peace--the peace of the angels. Swedenborg experienced the peace of the angels, and gave us some very beautiful descriptions of it--though he had to confess that it was an experience that went entirely beyond what human words can express. Still, what he was able to express gives us a wonderful promise of the peace that we are building within our souls when, through all the struggles of life, we follow the way of love. In _Heaven and Hell_ #286 he writes: Peace in the heavens is the divine nature deeply affecting everything good there with blessedness. So it is the source of all the joy of heaven. In its essence, it is the divine joy of the Lord's divine love, arising from his union with heaven and with every person there. This joy, which is perceived by the Lord in the angels and by the angels from the Lord, is peace. It flows down from there to provide angels with everything that is blessed, delightful, and happy--what we call "heavenly joy." A little later, in _Heaven and Hell_ #289, Swedenborg ties this heavenly peace in with the themes of struggle and of love that we have been talking about: When angels are in a state of love they are in a state of peace, because this is when the good within them is united to what is true. Much the same is true of us when we are being reborn. When a union of what is good and true takes place within us, which mainly happens after the struggles of temptation, we come into a state of delight that arises from heavenly peace. This peace is like the morning time or dawn in the spring, when, once the night has passed, all things of earth begin to take new life from the rising of the sun. The dew that falls from heaven spreads a leafy fragrance far and wide, and springtime's gentle warmth makes meadows fertile, and instills its charm in human minds as well. This is because morning or dawn in springtime corresponds to the state of peace of the angels in heaven. This is the beautiful promise that our church makes to us about the morning and the springtime that _will_ come after the night and winter of our struggles here on earth. Though Swedenborg is describing the peace of the angels, we do not have to wait till after we die to get a taste of it. "When the angels are in a state of love," Swedenborg writes, "they are in a state of peace." We can create a "state of love" right here on earth. We can continue seeking love, moving toward love, showing love to those around us. When we feel that warm and generous love welling up inside us, then we feel the peace of the angels. And then we are clothed in a God-given glory far beyond anything Solomon knew. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Feb 5 04:16:04 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2001 23:16:04 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "The Healing Hand of God," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010204231520.00d0fbe0@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Healing Hand of God By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, February 4, 2001 Readings: 2 Kings 20:1-7: Hezekiah's Illness In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'" Then Isaiah said, "Prepare a poultice of figs." They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered. Mark 5:22-24, 35-43: Jesus raises the daughter of Jairus One of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came, and seeing Jesus, fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him. . . . [While they were on their way,] some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koumi!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around. (She was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. Arcana Coelestia #6502: Spiritual sickness In the spiritual world, "sicknesses" are evils and falsities. Spiritual diseases are nothing else, for evils and falsities rob our inner self of good health; they introduce mental disorders and at length states of depression. This, and nothing else, is what the Bible means when it mentions sickness. Arcana Coelestia #7337.2: The Lord heals us All the miracles that the Lord performed when he was in the world were symbolic of the future state of the church. For example, opening the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, loosing the tongues of the mute, enabling the lame to walk, and making the maimed and leprous whole meant that the kind of people symbolized by the blind, deaf, mute, lame, maimed, and leprous would receive the Gospel and be restored to spiritual health. This would be accomplished by the Lord's coming into the world. Sermon This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you. (2 Kings 20:5) One of the things we used to debate in Seminary was whether God knew the future, and if so, whether it was just a general knowledge of the possibilities for the future or a detailed knowledge that extended to every single thing in the future. I always took the part of God having a full and detailed knowledge of the future--arguing that to God there was no such thing as past or future, since for God, everything is encompassed in the eternal now. I don't know if that rather grand and theoretical argument convinced anyone on the other side of the fence. But this week I had a much more practical demonstration that God does, indeed, know the future. As our Sunday School teachers know, I set up this year's schedule of Bible lessons back in September, using Anita Dole's _Bible Study Notes,_ Series 2. Most Sundays, I've been using the same story as the basis for my sermons, so that the service and Sunday School classes will be built around a common theme. And as all of you know by now, this week, after months of struggling with repeated episodes of sometimes life-threatening congestive heart failure, Ruth Leme? had an operation on her heart to repair a leaking valve that was contributing to her condition. Imagine my amazement, then, when at the beginning of the week I looked at the Bible lesson for this Sunday and discovered that it was the story of King Hezekiah's illness! _I_ certainly didn't know at the beginning of the year that in this small congregation, we would have someone in the hospital struggling with a life-threatening illness this week. So I conclude that someone higher up _did_ know this, and planned in advance for us to have the most appropriate Bible reading just when we needed it! In the story, King Hezekiah had a life-threatening illness. And the message came to him, through the prophet Isaiah, that he should put his affairs in order, because his life was at its end. Now, Hezekiah was one of the best kings of Israel, especially when it came to following the Lord. A couple of chapters earlier we are told: Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. (2 Kings 18:5, 6) In those days, when someone was struck with an illness, it was considered a message--or a punishment--from God. So it came as an especially painful blow to Hezekiah when the prophet of the Lord told him that he was going to die. "Remember, O Lord," he prayed, "how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And he wept bitterly. Perhaps if Hezekiah had reacted differently to his illness, God would have allowed him to die. If he had become angry and railed at God or had quietly resigned himself to his fate, perhaps the first message of the prophet would have come true, and his illness would have proved fatal. But Hezekiah was not only a righteous king; he was a tenacious one. Even in the face of death, he was willing to bring his plight to God in prayer, pleading his case, but still with the humble recognition that it was God's will, not his own, that would prevail. God heard his prayers, and saw his tears. And though God's will does not change, the change that took place in Hezekiah through his prayer and his tears made it possible for God to express his true will, which is always for our healing and for our good. Before the prophet Isaiah had even left the grounds of the palace, the word of the Lord came to him again: Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, "This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David." Because Hezekiah had showed himself to be a king who would submit himself to the will of the Lord and turn to the Lord for help when he was in need, God not only healed him and gave him fifteen more years to live, but also promised to deliver him and his capital city of Jerusalem from Assyria. At that time, Assyria was one of the great empires of the ancient world. The Assyrians had already taken the northern kingdom of Israel captive. This happened in the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign over the southern kingdom of Judah, and it would have been fresh in Hezekiah's mind. Now the Assyrians were threatening the southern kingdom as well. The Lord kept his promise, and Assyria never did conquer the southern kingdom of Judah--though Judah was eventually carried captive by Babylon. The Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity were the ancestors of the Jewish nation at the time of Christ. And of course, the Lord also kept his promise to heal Hezekiah and give him fifteen more years to live and to reign in Judah. These days, most people no longer think of sickness and death as punishments from God. It is true that if we live in careless and unhealthful ways, we can and will bring sickness upon ourselves. And it is also well-known that if we engage in excessive negative thinking, dwelling on dark and harmful thoughts, our minds and spirits can bring malaise upon our bodies. In today's scientific language, this is called "psychosomatic illness." From a spiritual perspective, it is a demonstration of the power of spirit over matter. However, sometimes we become sick due to factors beyond our control, or due to things that we simply did not know about. It would be cruel and heartless to accuse every person who is ill of having sinned against God. The story of Hezekiah, the righteous king who fell ill, should be enough to assure us that this is a mistaken approach to illness. Instead, we are told in the Bible--especially in the Gospels--to visit those who are sick and dying, bringing them comfort by showing them our love and concern for them. Regardless of whether it is due to our own folly or due to factors beyond our control, being sick is a joyless, painful affair. And especially when our sickness is life-threatening, it often causes us--and those who love us--to consider the deeper, eternal issues of life. I do not believe it is ever God's will that we should suffer. But I do believe that God allows us to endure these temporary sufferings while we are here on earth as a way to break us out of our tendency to focus on material things and on ourselves, and turn our minds and hearts toward God and spirit. In our times of distress, if we, like Hezekiah, turn to God, pray to God, ask for help, and try to discern the deeper purposes that God has for our lives, then whether or not we are physically healed of the illness that we are suffering with, there will be a deeper healing in our spirits. Sometimes we may get impatient with God if we do not receive the physical healing we wish and pray for. And yet, as difficult as our physical ailments can be, how important are a few days, or months, or years of struggle and pain on earth if through them, we are blessed with a deep, inner health, strength, and joy that will last forever? I believe God does want us to be physically healthy and live vigorously while we are here on earth. The divine ideal is to have a sound mind in a sound body. And yet, if we had to choose between our physical health and our spiritual health, it would be foolish to throw away what is eternal in exchange for temporary comfort in this world. This, I believe, is why God allows illness at all: because sometimes it is the only way we will learn to fully trust in God, gaining the deep lessons of patience and compassion for our fellow human beings. Sickness and death are difficult teachers, but their lessons run deep. If we look at our struggles with sickness and various handicaps in this light, even though it may not take away our physical pain and struggle, it does lead us to a deeper kind of healing. What God especially desires is that we should be healed _spiritually._ In fact, the Christian word "salvation" comes from a Latin word that not only means to be saved, but to be healthy--in this case, spiritually healthy. And whether or not God gives us the physical healing we pray for, we will always be healed spiritually if we turn to God in prayer, asking for the presence of God's love and wisdom in our lives, and showing to one another the same love and compassion that Jesus showed to those who were sick and dying. Spiritually, the diseases we suffer with come from the mistaken ideas we have adopted along the way, and especially from the harmful and destructive feelings that have taken up residence in our hearts. These are the causes of our _inner_ sicknesses. Whether or not we intentionally engage in faulty ways of thinking and feeling, as long as these things dwell within us, we will always be spiritually sick. Far more than physical sickness, these are the things that throw our minds into disorder and confusion, and drag us down into depression and despair. These are the deeper sicknesses that no physician can heal, because their causes are spiritual, not material. When we are facing a spiritual disease--a sickness within our soul--there is only one true Physician, and that is the Lord. While Jesus lived on earth, even the physical healing that he did was intended primarily to draw people upwards to spiritual health--to salvation. He did not simply heal people's bodies; through his healing he strengthened their faith, gave them deeper hope, and drew them toward himself--toward the presence of God on earth. When Jesus opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, loosed the tongues of the mute, enabled the lame to walk, made the maimed and leprous whole, and even raised the dead back to life, these were outward signs and manifestations of the deeper power of the Lord to heal all of our deeper diseases. Are there times when we are blind to the needs of others, not listening to all the signs that something is wrong in our lives? Our eyes can be opened and our ears unstopped if we will turn to the Lord and seek the understanding and insight that helps us to look beyond our own concerns and consider the feelings and the needs of those around us. Are there times when we seem unable to voice our true thoughts and feelings, or powerless to move forward and take the next steps in our lives? We can find our voice if we draw strength from the Lord's truth that burns within us, longing to be expressed openly and clearly. We can gain the strength to move forward if we turn to the Lord in prayer, asking for help in overcoming our inability to break out of the rut that we are in. Are we crippled and leprous in our hearts, feeling like only partial human beings--like people that no one would want to come near if they knew what was inside of us? The power of the Lord's love can make us whole again. The Lord can show us the angel that we were created to be, and enable us to exchange our old, lame, and withered inner life for a new angel-being that is God's will for us. Do we feel that we have died inside--that there is nothing left, and we might as well give up all hope and live in our own personal hell? The Lord has power over our emotional and spiritual death. The Lord can raise us up to new life if we will only believe that it can happen to us, and ask in prayer--even the prayer of bitterness and weeping--for the touch of God's healing hands upon our souls. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Feb 12 02:43:37 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2001 21:43:37 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "The Law of Love," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010211214309.02c42620@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Law of Love By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, February 11, 2001 Valentine's Day Sunday Readings: Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech nor words; their voice is not heard; yet their voices goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Mark 12:28-34: The two greatest commandments One of the teachers of the law came and . . . asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" Jesus replied, "The most important one is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Divine Love and Wisdom #1: Love is our life We know that love exists; but we do not know what love is. We realize that love exists from everyday conversation. For example we say, "He loves me," "The subjects love their ruler," "The husband and wife love each other," "The mother and her children love each other," and "He loves his country, his fellow-citizen, and his neighbor." We say the same sort of thing about inanimate objects. For example, "He loves this or that thing." But in spite of the fact that we are always talking about love, hardly anyone knows what love is. Since we cannot form any concept of love when we think about it, we will say that it isn't really anything, or that it is just something that flows into us from the things we see, hear, touch, and talk about, and affects us in that way. We are completely unaware that love is our very life. And love is not only the overall life of our body and all our thoughts; it is the life of every single part of us. Sermon: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. (Psalm 19:7) Valentine's day is coming right up, and when it comes to love, I know exactly where to turn for advice: Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the "Car Talk" guys! Those of you who never listen to Car Talk on the radio are probably scratching your heads right about now. What do cars have to do with love? Tom and Ray answer that question . . . well, sort of . . . in the online ad pitch for their CD "Men Are from GM, Women Are from Ford": Why is it that so many of our calls start out talking about, say, differentials or power steering, but wind up discussing men, women, devious ploys of deception, and power trips? Simple. To quote our producer, Dougie Berman: "A car is just a big inanimate object through which we reveal ourselves and our true personalities. Tangled up with cars are the issues of money, power, independence, self-image, confidence, generosity, and honesty, just to name a few." We couldn't have said it better, if at all. Anyway, interspersed with their advice on differentials and power steering, Tom and Ray do talk a lot about men, women, and love on their show. And though I don't catch the show as often as I used to, I did hear part of last week's show. In fact, I tuned in just as the Car Guys were introducing their latest find in the love department: a book newly revised and published in January called _The Surrendered Wife: A Woman's Spiritual Guide to True Intimacy with a Man,_ by Laura Doyle. This book presents a somewhat milder, 90s version of the Apostle Paul's famous or infamous statement in Ephesians 5:22-24: Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church--his body--of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Tom and Ray had found out about this book through a review in _Time_ magazine, which Tom's wife had done her best to hide from him--all to no avail. As I listened, I remembered that there was a copy of _Time_ magazine lying on Patty's bedside table. I'll bet she never thought I would look there! The next time I went into the bedroom and noticed it, I took a look. Sure enough, there was the review of _The Surrendered Wife!_ (I'm sure Patty was actually reading the cover article about John Ashcroft.) To be sure, both the Car Guys and the reviewer for _Time_ magazine had a healthy dose of skepticism about the premise of this book. Still, I knew I'd be preaching a Valentine's Day sermon soon. So despite the risk I took of making such an admission with Patty in the room, I looked up the book's web site and read the first two chapters--which are posted online as a way to convince you that you really want to buy this book. Personally, _I wouldn't dare!_ Besides, the book tells its intended audience of women that their husbands aren't supposed to know they're reading it. (Don't worry, Patty, I won't search your drawers!) All joking aside, after reading the first two chapters, I came away with the same general thoughts I had when I first heard the title. Now, I do recognize that Paul's formulation of women submitting to their husbands, their husbands loving them in return with a Christ-like love (which is how the passage continues), and everyone submitting to God was a distinct step forward in a day when women were considered the virtual property of their husbands, to be treated however the men pleased--whether well or badly. And for many people who still cannot quite conceive of women as being fully equal to men, Laura Doyle's book gives about the most positive construction to the remaining sense of inequality. However, my main reaction to the book is related to Doyle's central premise that a woman "surrendering" to her husband involves loving him and respecting him. Sounds great to me! But shouldn't husbands also do this for their wives, parents for their children, children for their parents, friends for their friends, and so on? In short, aren't we all supposed to surrender to one another in love? Perhaps the passage from Paul was on my mind after all. Immediately before those well-known verses about wives submitting to their husbands, Paul says, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21). I did not agree with everything Doyle wrote in the two chapters I read. It struck me as being still tainted with the idea that women are by nature subordinate to men. However, I did find real wisdom in her concept of calling a cease-fire in the battle of the sexes, committing ourselves to laying aside any desire to dominate or control our partner, substituting a conscious effort to love, respect, and listen to our partner. And I believe this applies just as much to a man's approach to his wife as it does to a wife's approach to her husband. If each partner is willing to surrender to the other, and both to God, then there is the basis of a true, deep, happy, and lasting marriage. This applies to _all_ human relationships because it is based on what we could call "The Law of Love." When Jesus was asked what was the most important of all the commandments, instead of responding with a parable, as he so often did, he gave a very direct answer: The most important one is this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these (Mark 12:29-31). In another Gospel, he adds, "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:40). All the Law and the Prophets! For his Jewish listeners, this meant the entire Word of God. The entire Word of God depends on love! To put this in the broadest terms, everything God teaches us throughout all the spiritual literature of all the religions and eras of humankind depends upon loving the Lord our God above all else, and loving other people as much as we love ourselves. This is the Law of Love. Paul is explaining the same law when he writes in Romans 13:8-10: Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another; for those who love others have fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. If we were to follow this law in all of our relationships, then, as Jesus said to the teacher of the Law who had asked the question, and had then given a wise response to Jesus' answer, we would be "not far from the kingdom of God." Today we are celebrating Valentine's Day, so let's look at some specific ways we can follow this Law of Love in our relationships. And since I took the time to read two chapters of Doyle's book, I'd like to draw some thoughts from it--but with the idea that they apply equally to the way a husband acts toward his wife. First, as a crucial centerpiece to her whole argument, Doyle points out that there is only one person we can change: ourselves. This idea is expressed everywhere, and may even seem trite. Yet as easy as it is to say, it is very difficult to live by. Our natural tendency as human beings is to place the source of all our problems outside of ourselves. Why? Because it's much easier that way! If all of our problems are caused by factors and people other than ourselves, then _we_ don't have to change anything to make things better; _they_ do. Yet ironically enough, when we move through life with the idea that the problem is outside of ourselves, we set ourselves up not only for failure in our relationships, but also for complete exhaustion and defeat. If we believe that some _they_ out there must change, then until we do give up in defeat, we will be stuck on a never-ending treadmill of trying to change everything _except_ what we actually do have the power to change: ourselves. When it comes to marriage, the idea that the problem is outside of ourselves most commonly comes down to the idea that the problem lies with our partner. If things are ever going to get better, we tell ourselves, then our partner must change. And it is our job to make him or her change. So as Doyle points out, once the honeymoon is over and we start seeing our partner's imperfections, we take it as our task to correct them--of course, merely as a way of trying to help our partner improve. "From my point of view," Doyle writes, "if he would just be more ambitious at work, more romantic at home, and clean up after himself, everything would be fine." Our efforts to make those corrections in our partner amount to an effort to dominate and control our partner--which will destroy our marriage. Doyle's solution is both simple and difficult. Simply stop criticizing your partner. Stop telling him or her what to do; stop nagging; stop giving advice; stop all efforts to control what your partner does. Give your partner the respect of believing that he or she can discover and correct his or her own problems, and focus instead on correcting the problems of the person that you can change: yourself. It's simple. And yet it is so difficult, because it means we have to face all the things in ourselves that need changing. Of course, there are some cases in which the problems in our partner are so severe that a relationship with that person simply isn't going to work. As Doyle points out, if your partner is physically or sexually abusive to you or your children; has an active addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling, or any other destructive substance or behavior; or is chronically unfaithful to you, it is time to begin making plans to get out of the relationship. However, if none of these things are true of our partner, then our task is to focus on the things that need changing in ourselves rather than the things that need changing in our partner. As hard as it is to do this--especially when we first start trying--the potential rewards are great, and we can begin to reap those rewards surprisingly quickly. Both Doyle herself and various people who give testimonials to her book state how hard it was to begin showing love and respect for their husbands instead of criticizing and nagging them. Yet they also wax enthusiastic about how quick the change was in coming when they broke themselves of those habits and began to speak positively to their husbands, listen to their ideas, and generally let them run their own lives. Where their husbands had become silent, withdrawn, and unromantic, they quickly began to open up again, wanting to spend more time with their wives . . . and even spontaneously doing things around the house that before, the wife figured she would have to nag for months in order to get them done. What's going on here? It's simple. When we begin to live by the Law of Love, the love we show comes back to us. Don't we all want to be treated with love and respect by our partners, our parents, our children, our friends, our co-workers? Don't we respond well when someone does give us respect, believing that we are good and competent people who will do well if we are allowed to express the best in ourselves? Of course we do! So will our partners when we give them the same love and respect that we desire. As Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38). This is the Law of Love. When we love the Lord our God above all else, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves (and yes, our neighbor _does_ include that person we're married to or otherwise in close relationship with), amazing things will start happening. Where once we may have _fallen_ in love, now we will _be_ in love, because we are _living_ from love. "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul." Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Feb 18 20:31:04 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 15:31:04 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "The Heavens Were Opened," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010218153025.00b16260@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Heavens Were Opened By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, February 18, 2001 Readings: Ezekiel 1:1-3, 26-28: The heavens are opened In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month--it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin--the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was upon him. . . . [And I saw] what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking. Revelation 19:11-16: The rider on the white horse I saw heaven opened, and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: "King of kings and Lord of lords." Heaven and Hell #445: Death and resurrection When someone's body can no longer perform its functions in the natural world in response to the thoughts and affections of its spirit (which it derives from the spiritual world), then we say that the individual has died. This happens when the lungs' breathing and the heart's systolic motion have ceased. The person, though, has not died at all. We are only separated from the physical nature that was useful to us in the world. The essential person is actually still alive. I say that the essential person is still alive because we are not people because of our bodies but because of our spirits. After all, it is the spirit within us that thinks, and thought and affection together make us the people we are. We can see, then, that when we die we simply move from one world into another. This is why in the inner meaning of the Bible, "death" means resurrection and a continuation of life. Sermon In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. (Ezekiel 1:1) Every time someone close to us dies, along with our grief from missing our loved one, there comes a wish to know how he or she is faring in the life beyond. The recent death in our church family (Ruth Lemee) has caused many of us to turn our thoughts to the afterlife. And one of the special blessings of the Swedenborgian Church is that though we do not know exactly what any particular person is going through after he or she dies, we do have wonderful, detailed descriptions of the afterlife thanks to the spiritual journeys of Emanuel Swedenborg. In the preface to his book _Heaven and Hell, which he published nearly two hundred fifty years ago in 1758, Swedenborg wrote: Church people these days know practically nothing about heaven and hell or their life after death, even though there are descriptions of everything available to them in the Bible. In fact, many who have been born in the church deny all this. In their hearts they are asking who has ever come back to tell us about it. To prevent this negative attitude--especially prevalent among people who have acquired a great deal of worldly wisdom--from infecting and corrupting people of simple heart and simple faith, it has been granted me to be with angels and to talk with them person to person. I have also been enabled to see what is in heaven and in hell, a process that has been going on for thirteen years. Now I am being allowed to describe what I have heard and seen, in the hopes of shedding light where there is ignorance, and of dispelling skepticism. _Heaven and Hell_ has always been Swedenborg's most popular book. That's not surprising, since it contains the most detailed description of the afterlife in existence. Of course, some people will not accept what Swedenborg wrote, either because their religious beliefs do not allow for someone to have had the experiences Swedenborg said he did, or because they simply don't believe in an afterlife at all. Swedenborg himself knew that there would be skeptics. In _Heavenly Secrets (Arcana Coelestia),_ the first work he published after his spiritual eyes were opened, he wrote: Now I am able to tell about what I have heard and seen while I have been with spirits and angels during the last few years. I realize that many people will say it is not possible to talk with spirits and angels while still living in the physical body. Some will say I am hallucinating and some will say I am writing these things just to get a following. Others will make other objections. But none of this discourages me, because I have seen, I have heard, and I have felt. (_Arcana Coelestia_ #67, 68) Of course, here in the Swedenborgian Church I am largely preaching to the choir when it comes to believing that Swedenborg's spiritual world experiences were genuine, and that heaven and hell really are the way he describes them. Still, Swedenborgians have sometimes felt that it is just a little bit strange to believe this, so we are sometimes reluctant to share our beliefs about the afterlife with others. I'd like to spend a few minutes giving some reasons to think that even though Swedenborg's experiences in the other life were far more extensive than any other known figure in history, they actually fit in well with spiritual experiences that have been described for thousands of years, and with many experiences that thousands of ordinary people have even today. Our Bible readings this morning are just two from dozens--even hundreds--of places in the Bible where a Bible writer describes an experience in the spiritual world. The book of Ezekiel begins by recounting how "the heavens were opened" to the prophet, and he "saw visions of God." We had time to read only a brief part of Ezekiel's spiritual experience, in which he describes a sapphire throne with the Lord sitting on it. The language he uses shows that he is struggling to describe something that goes entirely beyond words. The Apostle John also had his spiritual eyes opened. The entire Book of Revelation is his description of what he experienced in the spiritual world. Toward the beginning of the book, just before receiving a vision of the risen and glorified Christ, John says, "On the Lord's day I was in the spirit" (Revelation 1:10). (Swedenborg uses the same phrase to describe the state he was in when he experienced the spiritual world.) And in our reading from Revelation 19, John uses a phrase similar to Ezekiel's: "I saw heaven opened." These are just two Biblical writers who described things they experienced with their spiritual senses. If I were to quote even the major occurrences of this throughout the Bible, it would take up more time than we have for our whole service, let alone this sermon! The point is, if we look to the Bible, we find that the Lord often opened people's spiritual eyes and ears to experience things in the other world. Some skeptics will say, "But that was thousands of years ago. How do we know it wasn't all just made up?" Of course, nothing will convince those who do not wish to believe. But for those whose minds are open to the possibility of an afterlife, there is no shortage of supporting voices. Today, through the collected stories of people who have nearly died, we have a huge body of literature describing what thousands of ordinary people experienced in the spiritual world during their brief bouts with death. And though there are many variations in their experiences, there is also a remarkable agreement about what the spiritual world is like. And it turns out to be very much like what Swedenborg described two and a half centuries ago. We could go on to survey the spiritual literature of all the ages and cultures of humankind, and if we did, we would find that far from being an oddity, nearly every age has had its religious seers and mystics who have brought back to earth enlightenment from the world on the other side of death. Swedenborg's descriptions may be the most detailed of all, but they are one in a long line of testimonies throughout human history, all of which attest to the reality and presence of the spiritual world. With so vast a body of "spiritual evidence," available, where can we begin the task of describing the afterlife? There is one fundamental characteristic of the spiritual world that great mystics and ordinary near death experiencers alike agree upon: God is the central reality there. Swedenborg begins the book _Heaven and Hell_ with three chapters that describe the Lord as the God of heaven, whose presence and nature fills and gives life to everything there. In fact, even hell, Swedenborg says, is ruled by God, and not by some great figure called the Devil or Satan--which Swedenborg says is a personification of all human evil together. God is all-powerful, and rules the entire universe, spiritual and physical, heaven and hell. For those who believe in a God of love--as we Swedenborgians do--this is a very comforting thought. We know that the place we are going after we die is run by a divine being who loves us with an infinite and eternal love, and who wants us to have the greatest happiness that we can possibly experience. There is no need to fear death, because when we die, we are in the hands of the Lord our God, who is love itself and wisdom itself. As Swedenborg and others describe it, the love and wisdom of God fill all of heaven, and give it an indescribable brilliance and a spring-like warmth that is both emotionally healing and mentally invigorating. The very light of heaven is truth. When we see with our spiritual eyes, we simultaneously receive understanding in our minds from what we see. And the very warmth of heaven is love. When we feel the warmth of heaven's sun--which is the Lord--shining on us, we feel and experience the Lord's love within us. This presence of the warmth of God's love and the light of God's truth gives life to everything in heaven, and flows down to the lower levels of the spiritual world as well. However, to those of us who have not experienced it, this all may seem a bit other-worldly and theoretical. So let's talk about what it is like to die, and how we live in heaven. Swedenborg devotes a whole book to this, and we can only scratch the surface for now. If you would like to look into it further, I recommend the book _Awaken from Death,_ (J. Appleseed Press, 1993), which gives a brief version of Swedenborg's own descriptions from _Heaven and Hell._ And, of course, there is always _Heaven and Hell_ itself. When we die, Swedenborg says, we are met by heavenly angels who ensure that our passing from one world to the next is peaceful and comforting. They answer all our questions and take care of all our needs, until we are ready to begin exploring this new world for ourselves. And even then, there are always angels to help us as we find our heavenly home. For a longer or shorter period, depending on our personality, we go through a stage in which any outward "masks" we have been wearing that aren't our true self fall away, and we become entirely an expression of the things we love the most. If we have chosen to love ourselves or material things above all else, we will move by our own choice toward hell, where selfish and materialistic people live. But if we have chosen to love the Lord and other people most of all, then we will soon be on our way to becoming angels. When our outward life has become entirely an expression of who we are deep inside, we will see paths leading us toward the heaven where we will spend eternity. And when we arrive there, we will feel that we have at last arrived at our true home. Of course, besides the presence of the Lord in our hearts, minds and lives, what makes heaven _be_ heaven is living in community with others who love the same kinds of things that we love. We spend eternity with those who share our values, our interests, our pleasures, our pastimes. And since everyone in heaven loves other people and wants to make them happy, heaven is a place where we are always serving one another's needs, and adding to one another's joy. Our "work" in heaven is to serve others in the way we love the most. There are many different occupations in heaven, and no one is idle. Some are teachers. Some are preachers. Some raise babies, children, and young people who have died and gone to heaven. Some attend people who have just died, guiding them as they find their way into the spiritual world. There are even what we would call "prison guards": angels who attend to people in the various hells and keep them under control. And there are angels who form the "governments" of heaven, making sure everyone knows an understands the divine law that is the true government there. No one in heaven is _forced_ to do their work; they do it because they _love_ to. And since all their needs are taken care of, there is no need to worry about making ends meet. Angels also have plenty of free time to enjoy music, sports, the beauties of their spiritual environment, reading, writing, conversation, and all the other forms of recreation, sharing, and personal growth that we enjoy here on earth. Speaking of personal growth, just because we are angels, it does not mean we stop growing. There are always new things to learn and greater levels of love to experience. Our spiritual growth never ends--though it is not as much of a struggle in heaven as it is here on earth! If you want more on heaven and hell, you'll just have to read the book! For now, I will leave you with this thought: heaven is a continuation of all the best parts of our life in this world. The only thing we leave behind is our physical body. Everything that truly makes us who we are--what we love, what we know, and how we live--stays with us. We can know what heaven is like if we think of our loved ones who have died, imagining them as they were at their very best moments: when they were showing love and understanding that came from deep within, and giving help, comfort, and joy to those around them. Heaven is where everyone shows that kind of love and understanding to everyone else. And we don't have to wait until we die to experience it. We can create a heaven of love and understanding right here on this earth. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Feb 26 04:09:49 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 23:09:49 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] The Stone Which the Builders Rejected Message-ID: <200102252310_MC2-C6DA-C1B7@compuserve.com> The Stone Which the Builders Rejected by Rev. Eric H. Carswell February 25, 2001 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. (Psalm 118:22,23; Mark 12:10-11) The Lord knows what it is like to be rejected, neglected, or merely politely tolerated. In all that He does, He has the long-term happiness of individual human beings in mind. There is not one word of revealed truth that doesn't look to this goal. Each image, each law, each rational concept that He has given to us is to lead us to ever more useful and happy lives. On the last night of His mortal life, He told His disciples: "These things I have spoken to you that My joy might be yours, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11). The sadness of His life is that too often His words have been merely tolerated, or neglected, and too often outright rejected. The parable of the wicked vinedressers was directly addressed to the members of the Lord's audience who had rejected and perverted the essential truths of the Old Testament and would soon by crying for His crucifixion. The vineyard that the man planted represents the Lord's Church on earth. Its qualities describe how the Lord has provided it with everything it needs to lead people to happier and more useful lives. In the parable, the goal of the vineyard was the harvested and processed crop. The primary thing that the Church is supposed to produce within our lives is genuine charity in our hearts, minds, and lives. That is what the Lord calls us to, and all that stands in the way He warns us against. At vintage-time, the owner sent a servant to receive some of the fruit. This servant represents the Lord knocking at the door of a person's mind calling on him or her to do what is good, merciful and just. Many times each day, we have opportunities placed before us to make decisions about how we will serve others. The Lord comes to a person of the Church with the hope that he will choose to do what is truly good. We often find that making this choice is not easy. Other thoughts argue against it in our mind. These other thoughts, as it were, beat up on the thought sent to us by the Lord, and the result is a refusal to do what the Lord had hoped we would do. In one case the Lord's parable specifically cites that they threw stones at the servant, wounding him in the head. These stones represent the self-righteous justifications that an externally pious person can marshall to support his intolerance, hatred, neglect, and cruelty. The Lord knocks at the door of such a person's mind, sometimes through comments made by others, sometimes by gently introducing a thought into the person's ideas, and rather than receiving it and yielding up the life of good that the Lord hopes for, the person rejects it and within his own mind argues that it is wrong, irrelevant, or misguided. The doctrinal justification that he musters, wounds the head of the servant, meaning he rejects the essential call to do what is good in the present situation. Everyone does this at various points in their life. No one enters adult life making the right choices spontaneously. No one discovers a single key early on and from then on never makes a mistake. The Lord doesn't look at what we do and don't do primarily as actions earning black dots or gold stars. The crucial question, from His perspective, is what are the fundamental values that direct our lives. In the Writings of the New Church these fundamental values are sometimes called our ruling love. This represents the core goal of our lives. This core goal subtly or directly influences all of our other values and choices. The Writings of the New Church describe this ruling as follows: A person's life consists essentially of his love, and what his love is like determines what his life, indeed his entire personality is like. It is however the dominant or ruling love in him, that is, his love of whatever he sees as his chief objective, that molds his character. That love has numerous particular and specific forms of love deriving from it and subordinate to it. And although these may take on a different appearance from the dominant love it is nevertheless present in each one. It directs them, and it employs them as intermediate objectives in looking toward and aiming at its own objective, which is the first and last of all. This it does in both direct and indirect ways. (Arcana Caelestia 7081) An amazing fact is that a fundamentally evil ruling love is quite capable of having a subordinate love that values religion and the concept of God. The son of the owner of the vineyard represents the Lord coming to us, not as the infinite and unknowable God, but rather His entrance into our lives as a loving Divine Human. A person with a fundamentally evil ruling love cannot have a subordinate love of the Lord calling him or her to live a good life in obedience to the central meanings of His commandments. It is the rejection of this presence that fundamentally defines the core of a dominantly evil person's life. This is represented in the parable by the son of the owner coming to receive the vintage, and instead being killed. The vinedressers killed him in hopes that they would have the vineyard all to themselves. This represents a person rejecting the fundamental presence of the Lord's order, mercy, and love. It represents a choice of a self-centered or world-centered and directed life. And this choice can be made under the guise of the most dedicated religious behavior as it was with the corrupt Pharisees. This is why the Lord as he finished the parable then quoted from the Psalms saying: The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes (Psalm 118:22; Mark 12:10-11) Have you ever watched a stonemason at work? As he works, he is surrounded by a pile of stones from which he chooses the one he will next add to the wall he is building. After placing one, he looks over the possible stones and picks the one that appears to best fit his needs. As he picks through a pile, if he happens to lift one that he doesn't think will fit, he tosses it away, rejecting it. If he finds one that he doesn't think will fit anywhere because of its coloring or extremely difficult shape, he may pitch it to the far edge of the pile or further. Once the wall is underway, the process of choosing a stone and putting it in place can be rather rapid. But if you happen to be present at the beginning of the wall, you will notice what care is given to the placement of the chief cornerstone. The placement of this stone determines at least two edges or sides of the wall, and the placement of all other stones are influenced by their relation to its initial position. If it is correctly placed, then the rest of the wall can work off of its correct placement. It if is misplaced, the wall will necessarily be flawed. Why does the Lord speak to us about stonemasons and of a rejected stone becoming the chief cornerstone? We are the builders of our lives. The values, ideas, beliefs that guide our lives are like stones. The choices we make and their implications, both short-term and long-term, are like the stones built into a wall. These choices determine the quality of our lives and our influence on others. At any point in our lives we are like a stonemason surrounded by stones that we can choose from. What is the stone that is rejected? It is the fundamental truth about who we are in relationship to the Lord. It is all too easy to not include Him in our thinking. It is too easy to become focused on the here and now, on our own needs, on our own agendas of what is important. The Lord calls us above everything else to a love of Him and a love of our neighbor. This fundamental call of the Lord doesn't appear to fit very well into our own plans and goals. It is easy to reject. Part of our mind does not believe Him nor trust what He teaches. For many of us, it is not that we totally reject the Lord. We will fit Him in somewhere. Consider the following words that describe a qualified desire for God's presence in a person's life: I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. (By Wilbur Rees, quoted in Improving Your Serve, by Charles Swindoll, 1981, p. 15) We don't want to reject the Lord totally, but having Him as the chief cornerstone of our life seems to be asking an awful lot. The Lord looks with compassion at us in the state of mind in which we are inclined to think thoughts such as this. He knows that over and over again in each person's life it is inevitable that the chief cornerstone will be poorly chosen and everything placed in relationship to it will be flawed as well. Gradually He is working to lead us to a very different life; one in which a many-times rejected stone becomes the central value of our daily values, thoughts, and deeds. The Lord would guide us, open our eyes, and help us to recognize the stone that should be the chief cornerstone of our life. May we do our part to follow Him, to reflect on the choices we make, to see the flaws within our values and ideas. May we turn to the Lord in prayer and in life that someday we can echo the words spoken by Him: The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes (Psalm 118:22,23; Mark 12:10-11). Amen. Lessons: Mark 12:1-11 Since all the truth of doctrine from the Word must be founded upon the acknowledgment of the Lord, therefore the Lord is called: The cornerstone which the builders rejected (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17-18). The cornerstone is the initial foundation stone. The Lord also in the Word in many places is called a "Rock," consequently He meant Himself, when He said: Upon this rock I will build My church (Matthew 16:18, 19); And also when He said: Who ever hears My words and does them, is compared to a prudent person who builds a house and lays the foundation upon a rock (Luke 6:47-48; Matt. 7:24-25). "A rock" means the Lord as He reveals Himself in the Divine truth of the Word. All things of the church and of its doctrine relate to two fundamental ideas: that the Lord is to be approached immediately and that a person must live a life according to the Ten Commandments by shunning evils as sins; and that thus according to all things of doctrine relate to love to God, and to love towards the neighbor Apocalypse Revealed 915 "The stone of the corner" signifies all the Divine truth upon which heaven and the church are founded, thus every foundation; and as the foundation is the ultimate upon which a house or temple rests, therefore it signifies all things. . . .Because "the stone of the corner" signifies all Divine truth upon which the church is founded, it also signifies the Lord in terms of His Divine Human; because all Divine truth proceeds from His Divine Human. The builders or architects who rejected that stone, as is read in the Gospels, are the people of the church, here of the Jewish Church of that time, which rejected the Lord, and with Him all Divine truth; for with them there was nothing but vain traditions drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word in which the truths themselves of the Word were made into false ideas and its good things polluted. Apocalypse Explained 417:10 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Sun Mar 4 18:47:04 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 13:47:04 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] A Blossoming Desert Message-ID: <200103041347_MC2-C792-5D4F@compuserve.com> A Blossoming Desert by the Rev. Eric H. Carswell March 4, 2001 The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. (Isaiah 35:1,2) The prophecy of Isaiah describes a wilderness or desert being changed. It describes people who are blind, deaf, lame, and dumb being healed. On a deeper level these miracles speak of a change that can take place in a person's life. It describes the life and joy that the Lord would bring and ever renew within our lives. The opening image in this prophecy, a desert or wilderness, can refer to the Church as an organization. It can describe a time when the Church is not doing its job--a time when it is not teaching what is true and leading people to love and do things that are good. It is spiritually relatively empty and barren of life. Spiritually it is closing people's eyes, stopping up their ears, making them unable to move, or speak the truth. This is exactly the opposite of what a church is supposed to do and yet it has happened before and it could happen in an organization today. The Lord wants to bring His light and life to such an organization. He wants to bring life to it like a blossoming desert. He wants to heal the spiritually blind, deaf, lame and dumb. But in a more focused way for us, these images also refer to anyone who seeks to be a part of the Lord's Church. They can refer to someone who is truly trying to follow God. In its broadest definition, the Lord's Church means all people who are trying to live a good life because they believe that is what God (however they know Him) wants. In a narrower sense the Lord's Church refers to those who have the Word of God and thereby are capable of knowing Him, His qualities, and how best to cooperate with Him. It refers to people who have the Word and are trying to obey it. What qualities does a person have who is becoming part of the Lord's Church? What would you say? The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows two images of what people think of when they picture a religious person. The Pharisee was smug and superior. It isn't hard for a person to have the knowledge of what is right and wrong, good and evil twisted in his or her head to condemn others for their transgressions. The Pharisee felt good about himself and reflected on the sinners he saw. He made himself superior to others. He looked down on them. But he felt superior for some external reason. The Pharisee felt superior because he worshiped in the right church. He wore his clothes the way a good Jew should. He obeyed the letter of the Law. But the Lord wanted to his listeners to question where this man was in his heart. John the Baptist spoke to the need of all who want to be part of the Lord's church to look within--to see the need for change within one's own heart and mind. He called for change. He said: Bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. (Matthew 3:8-9) The externals of the church don't make the church in a person's heart. The Lord is able to bring the church to the heart of anyone in the world, no matter how apparently dead and lifeless his background or environment. One quality that a person has who is becoming part of the Lord's church is that he feels a humility about his own imperfections. He isn't beaten down by this humility. He also knows that the Lord has given him talents and abilities and a heart that can care. His acknowledgment of his own imperfection softens his heart when he deals with others imperfections. As he sees flaws in others, he recognizes the battles that he faces himself, sometimes winning and sometimes losing. This is part of what the Lord wanted to teach in the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector praying in the temple. It was addressed to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. People who are part of the Lord's church are not perfect. They know that they have needed and still need the Lord's help. They know that parts of their life are like a spiritual wilderness or desert. They know that parts of their life are spiritually blind, deaf, lame, and dumb. This is true of all people. Consider the following passage from the Writings of the New Church. No definite period of time ever exists when anyone is regenerate enough to be able to say, "Now I am perfect." In fact an unlimited number of states of evil and falsity exist with everyone, not only simple states but also varied and complex ones which have to be disposed of in such a way that they do not recur. In some states a person can be called fairly perfect, but in countless others he cannot. (Arcana Caelestia 894) There will always be at least the potential of evil loves and false ideas whose spiritual deadness is like a wilderness or desert. These loves and ideas harm our lives by having us blind to the truth, by having us unable to hear what is good. These evil loves and false ideas render us spiritually lame so that we do not go out to help others. They leave us spiritually dumb so do not speak what is true. We may have heard this idea before and probably not just once, but rather many times, but we cannot become part of the Lord's Church by a knowledge of this idea. We cannot stop there. If we stop at a mere knowledge of these words, they become just an abstraction. They become something that all could say without feeling any need to do something about it. Each of us needs to see specifically what meaning they have for our own lives. Each of us needs to say in our personal pray, Lord show me the evil loves and false ideas that I most need to work on. We need to see the specifics--to feel the pain of specific flaws in our daily thoughts and decisions. Consider these words from the Writings of the New Church. Cannot anyone understand, from the reason given him, that the mere lip-confession of being a sinner is not repentance, or the recounting of various particulars in regard to it, as a hypocrite might . . . ? For what is easier for a person when he is in trouble and agony, than to utter sighs and groans from his lungs and lips, and also to beat his breast and make himself guilty of all sins, and still not be conscious of any sin in himself? Do the diabolical hordes who then occupy his loves, depart along with his sighs? Do they not rather hiss at those things, and remain in him as before, as in their own house? From this it is clear that such repentance is not what is meant in the Word; but instead what is meant is repentance from evil works. (True Christian Religion 529) One of the qualities of a person who is part of church is that he or she acknowledges in that there is work to do. The person acknowledges this by doing something. It is not a state of mind that overwhelmed or oppressed by evil. Much of the time it feels a sense presence of God - His help, His aid. As in the words of Isaiah it calls out saying: Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, Be strong, do not fear! Behold your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you. (Isaiah 35:3-4) A person who is becoming part of the Lord's Church sees reason for hope in his own life. He acknowledges a purpose in the ups and downs that he faces. There will be times when he sees that a miracle is being wrought in his life. He sees that he is being changed by the Lord in ways that makes him a better person, more loving, and wiser. The qualities of a person who is becoming part of the Church are like the description in Isaiah 35. It involves an awareness of spiritual desert or wilderness in one's own life. It involves an awareness of the spiritual blindness, deafness, lameness, and being dumb that need to be healed. This state of mind knows that the Lord wants to heal these infirmities in each of us and that He wants to heal them in the lives of others. It also knows what it needs to do to cooperate. May we pray for the presence of this quality of mind in our own life. May we ask for the sense of hope and confidence that if we are willing to turn to the Lord, to learn from him, to do our part that He will certainly come and He will save us. And when this happens, the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled in our lives. "The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing." (Isaiah 35:1,2) Lessons: Isaiah 35 Luke 18:9-14 "And dwelt in the wilderness" means a state of mind and life which is obscure comparatively . . . This comparatively obscure state means the state of the spiritual Church in comparison with the state of the heavenly Church, that is, the state of those who are spiritual in comparison with the state of those who are heavenly. Those who are heavenly are moved by the affection for good, those who are spiritual by the affection for truth. Those who are heavenly possess perception, whereas those who are spiritual possess the dictate of conscience. To those who are heavenly the Lord appears as a Sun, but to those who are spiritual as a Moon. The light which the former have - enabling them to see good and truth from the Lord with their eyes as well as to perceive it - is like the light of the sun in the daytime; but the light which the latter have from the Lord is like the light of the moon at night, and so, compared with those who are heavenly, these dwell in obscurity. The reason for this is that those who are heavenly dwell in love to the Lord, and so in the Lord's life itself, whereas those who are spiritual dwell in charity toward the neighbor and in faith, and so, it is true, in the Lord's life but in a rather more obscure way. All this explains why those who are heavenly never reason about faith or the truths of faith, but because a perception of truth from good exists with them, simply say, "That is so," whereas those who are spiritual talk and reason about the truths of faith because a conscience for what is good received from truth exists with them. A further reason for this difference is that with those who are heavenly the good things of love have been implanted in the will part of their minds, where a person's chief life resides, but with those who are spiritual it has been implanted in the understanding part, where a person's secondary life resides. This is the reason why, compared with the heavenly, the spiritual dwell in obscurity. This comparative obscurity is here called "a wilderness." Arcana Caelestia 2708:1 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Mar 5 04:23:28 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 23:23:28 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "The Baptism of Jesus," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010304232302.00c6cd30@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Baptism of Jesus By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 4, 2001 Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 9-14: The cleansing of Naaman Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier; but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." . . . So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'?" So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Mark 1:4, 5, 9-15: The baptism of Jesus John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. . . . At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven opened, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Arcana Coelestia #4255.5: Washing in the Jordan The cure of Naaman's leprosy, accomplished by washing himself seven times in the Jordan according to Elisha's command, represented baptism. Baptism means introduction into the church and into the things that relate to the church, and so into rebirth and the things that relate to rebirth. Not that we are reborn by baptism. Rather, baptism is a symbol of rebirth, which we should remember. And because the things that make the church are meant by baptism, and baptism is meant by "the Jordan," it was the Jordan in which people were baptized by John; and the Lord, too, wanted to be baptized by John in the Jordan. Sermon: At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven opened, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. (Mark 1:9, 10) Today, as we continue following Series 2 of the _Bible Study Notes_ by Anita Dole along with the Sunday School, we come to the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. For the next two months we will look at the life and ministry of Jesus as told in the shortest--and probably the first written--of the Gospels. To a secular reader, the Gospel story amounts to a biography of a charismatic religious figure, exaggerated and embellished by his followers so that a mere mortal is presented as someone miraculous and divine. For people who do not believe in God and spirit, there could be no virgin birth, no healings, no miracles, and, of course, no resurrection from the dead. All of these are either wishful thinking or outright lies introduced by the Gospel writers. And Jesus is simply a man who was misrepresented by his followers--or, if his sayings are accurately reported, a man who had delusions of grandeur and a flair for hyperbole. For Christians, the Gospel story is so much more. It is the story of the Son of God, the Word made flesh, God with us. For Swedenborgians in particular, it is the story of how God came to live among us as a divinely human being, sharing our joys and our struggles, teaching us how to live spiritually, and overcoming all the evil forces that would destroy our souls. It is the story of the Creator God coming personally to the ones he created to save us from all the evils of selfishness and materialism with which we had ensnared ourselves. At the same time, the story of the Lord Jesus is our own story. Why? Because when God came to earth as Jesus, he lived a life that is the ultimate pattern for our more limited, merely human lives. And through the knowledge of the deeper meanings in the Bible, we find that all the events in the Lord's life tell us the story of what we go through as we are reborn and re-created as loving, wise, and spiritual human beings. This morning, as we begin the Gospel of Mark, we are also beginning our own spiritual journey. And it all starts in the desert. This is exactly where we are within ourselves before we make our decision to accept God into our lives and live spiritually instead of materialistically. However rich our outward life may be, without God and spirit in our lives, we are inwardly as empty and barren as the desert. As it turns out, Patty and I just got back from a trip out to Arizona, where we spent a lot of time hiking in the desert. In some ways, the desert has gotten a bad rap. When we think of the desert, we tend to think of vast expanses of sand with little or nothing growing there, and only the occasional oasis to break up the nothingness. And there are some stretches of desert like that. But what we saw in Arizona was very different. There was life everywhere--a rich ecosystem with plants and animals intricately designed to survive and even thrive in arid land that receives less than ten inches of rain a year. While we were in Arizona, a fairly large fraction of the average nine inches of annual rainfall for the area was coming down. So we saw the desert in bloom, with a profusion of wildflowers all around us. And it was very beautiful. Yet it was also very forbidding. Just about everything that grows in the desert has spines or thorns or some other defenses to help it cling to life in an environment where only the hardiest plants and animals can survive. Unlike the profuse, fast-growing greenery of temperate, tropical, and rainy areas of the earth, where life thrives on sheer abundance, the plants and animals of the desert are adapted to conditions where life-giving water must be carefully conserved, and where growth is generally slow and deliberate. Modern humans are able to live in the desert mainly by drilling for water deep under the surface, or piping it in from distant rivers. Spiritually, the desert gives us a picture of human life in which the water of spiritual truth is a scarce commodity, and we cling to the edge of emotional survival on the scantiest fare. Before our inner, spiritual self is opened to the Lord's presence in our lives, we are often covered with emotional thorns and spines in order to protect ourselves from the "big bad world" out there. Though we have growth and even beauty in our lives, there is something lacking. We are lacking the abundant, spiritual water of the Lord's refreshing truth. And what a wonderful thing that the very first event in Jesus' ministry as told in Mark's Gospel is his baptism by John in the Jordan! Coming from the desert, we find life-giving spiritual water that washes and refreshes our souls. To understand the meaning of the Jordan and John's baptism, let's look back for a moment to some of the Bible stories we studied earlier about the children of Israel after they had been rescued from slavery in Egypt. After leaving Egypt, the Israelites spent forty years wandering in the desert before finally reaching the Holy Land. These were difficult, trying times, full of hunger and thirst, enemies and battles, grumbling and complaining. We have all had our times of wandering in the desert. Often they are times when we do not feel close to God and heaven; when we are focusing mostly on our own life in this world, forgetting or forsaking our inner, spiritual life. Eventually, we get to the point where we have had enough of the desert. We've struggled with thirst and thorns and barren feelings long enough. And then, at last, we turn to the Lord, looking for the new life that we have been promised in the Bible. And then we are finally ready to enter the promised land. When the children of Israel were at last ready to enter the rich and fertile land that had been promised to them, what did they have to cross over in order to get there? The Jordan river! The miraculous crossing of the Jordan on dry land was their introduction into the holy Land of Canaan--which symbolizes a new, spiritually-oriented life. And so the Jordan river represents our first introduction into spiritual, God-centered life. And since water is a universal symbol of truth, the Jordan river especially symbolizes the deeper truth that first introduces us to spiritual life. Each one of us who has turned our lives over to God has experienced these basic, life-giving truths that transform our thinking so that we are no longer living for material pleasures and personal power, but for the love of God and our neighbor. Most of these truths are so simple that a child can understand them. For example, if we had previously been living mostly for our own pleasure, perhaps what turned our lives around was taking seriously such teachings of the Lord as "do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12); "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39); and "Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). These are just a few of the simple, basic spiritual truths that can introduce us into deeper and more fulfilling life if we will take them to heart and follow them. This is the true meaning of baptism. Our ritual of baptism is intended to symbolize for us the deeper, spiritual washing that happens when we accept the Lord and allow God's truth to flow into our minds and hearts. This truth cleanses us from all the unclean, unworthy thoughts and feelings that cause us to wander in an emotional and spiritual desert when we could be living in the rich and fertile land of mutual love and understanding. And though the Lord Jesus had never sinned--as we do whenever we intentionally do things we know are wrong--he wished to be baptized in order to show us by example that we must be inwardly washed clean if we wish to have true, abundant spiritual life. The story of Naaman the Syrian, understood spiritually, gives a beautiful picture of the cleansing powers of the Jordan river. Naaman was a great, powerful, and famous person. And yet, he suffered with leprosy, a debilitating skin disease that was considered degrading in his culture. This is how our lives are when we are living for the world and for our own purposes instead of for the Lord. We may accomplish great things in this world; we may acquire many beautiful things and experience many pleasures; we may even be looked up to by the people around us. But we will not gain any deep and lasting satisfaction from all of this. Instead, our outward life--symbolized by the skin, which is the outermost part of our body--will give us less and less satisfaction. We will feel plagued by desires that we can never fulfill, and nothing will bring us relief. Though we may hide our sense of malaise from everyone around us, we ourselves will know that our life is getting worse and worse. We are inwardly sick even when the world considers us to be a great success. The healing of this condition comes from the same Jordan river in which John baptized the people of Judea, and also Jesus. But we are usually not ready to receive that baptism and healing right away. Especially if we've spent a lot of time and energy building up a good life for ourselves, and then tried all sorts of tricks and therapies to make ourselves feel better when that "good life" grows hollow, we will tend to resist the Lord's way of healing us. We may hold out for some great miracle to make us feel justified in going to all that trouble and expense to fix ourselves by our own strength. But the Lord's way is really very simple. A child can do it. And as Naaman's servants told him, so can those who are great in their own eyes--as we all too often are. If we, like Naaman, are willing to set aside our pride and follow those simple divine truths such as the Golden Rule and loving our neighbor as ourselves, then our emotional and spiritual malaise will be healed. We will find new life rushing into us, giving new meaning and joy to our everyday activities. If we will take the simple steps of putting God first and showing as much consideration to others as we would like them to show to us, we will find healing for all of our broken feelings and broken relationships. All of this, and much more, is contained in the simple story of the Lord's baptism by John in the Jordan. And if we are willing to take it to heart, we will be able to hear and follow the first teaching given to us by Jesus after his baptism and his temptation in the desert: "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Next week, we will consider how our hearing and heeding this message changes both our inward and our outward lives, as we consider Jesus' parable of putting new wine into new bottles. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Mar 11 20:12:35 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 15:12:35 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "New Wine in New Bottles," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010311151131.021c4b90@pop.ne.mediaone.net> New Wine in New Bottles By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 11, 2001 Readings: Deuteronomy 7:7-13: The blessings of keeping the law The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. But those who reject him he will repay in their own person. He does not delay, but repays in their own person those who reject him. Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees, and laws I give you today. If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land-your grain, new wine and oil-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. Mark 2:18-28: New wine in new bottles Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine is poured into new wineskins." One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is illegal on the Sabbath?" He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for mankind, not mankind for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." True Christian Religion #784: The old and the new The New Jerusalem, which is a new religion, cannot come down from heaven all at once. It can only descend as the false ideas of the old religion are banished. For new things cannot enter where false ideas have previously been implanted unless these are uprooted. . . . As the Lord said, "No one puts new wine into old bottles . . . ." Sermon: No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine is poured into new wineskins. (Mark 2:22) The Gospels give every indication that the Pharisees and other religious leaders simply did not understand Jesus. Yes, they were jealous of him; yes, they considered him a threat; yes, they eventually decided that he must be eliminated. But in the early parts of his ministry from which today's reading from the Gospel of Mark comes, one of their main reactions seems to be confusion. Jesus and his followers didn't play according to the rules, and they couldn't understand why. The ancient Jewish culture was, to put it in the most positive light, a culture of laws, and of obedience (or disobedience) to laws. In addition to the hundreds of laws given directly in Scripture, there were additional hundreds of laws added by their religious leaders little by little over the centuries, until it became practically a full-time job just to learn them, let alone to obey them all. The Pharisees were people who made it their business to learn and obey all those laws. And they tended to look down upon those who were not so assiduous. They had a certain sense of assurance that they were the righteous ones, and that others who did not keep the law as they did were not so righteous in the sight of God. The problem with Jesus, from their perspective, was that he kept flagrantly breaking the law. And they kept asking him why. But the answers he gave did not fit into their legalistic worldview. As our reading from Mark begins, the Gospel writer notes that John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. It was customary in those days for practicing Jews to fast twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. As with many other aspects of their religion, something that was originally intended as a special ritual of self-denial and humility before the Lord had become a matter of rote legal observance. Whether someone was inwardly in the spirit of fasting or not, whenever Monday or Thursday rolled around, it was time to fast. That's what their laws said, so that's what they did if they considered themselves highly religious. Jesus didn't follow that law. Perhaps it was a Monday or a Thursday, or perhaps it was one of their holy days set aside for fasting when a group of people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" The answer Jesus gave them had nothing to do with legalisms. In essence, he said that when people are joyful--such as at a wedding feast--they can't possibly fast. No, the time to fast is when the joyous times are over--such as when the bridegroom is taken away. In other words, fasting must be driven by _inner_ realities, not merely outward, legal ones. This was the context in which Jesus made his well-known statement about putting new wine in new bottles. And his words are immediately followed by another example. "One Sabbath," we read, "Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing what is illegal on the Sabbath?'" Characteristically, the Pharisees viewed the actions of Jesus' disciples through the lenses of their law. Picking grain was considered work, and this was not allowed on the Sabbath. Why, then, did this supposed religious leader allow his followers to do such illegal and irreligious things? If he was a true teacher, he would never allow such things! They simply didn't understand. In response, Jesus quoted from their own Scriptures an instance in which David the king, one of the most celebrated figures in their cultural history, violated the ritual law--in the Temple no less--and yet was not considered guilty of any sin. The story he referred to (which comes from 1 Samuel 21:1-6) is one in which David's dire need overrode the strictures of the ritual law. And having given this example, Jesus told the Pharisees who were questioning him, "The Sabbath was made for mankind, not mankind for the Sabbath." In other words, laws are for the benefit of people, and only useful insofar as they improve the human condition. But the Pharisees could not understand this. It simply did not fit into their view of things. As far as they were concerned, the law was the law, and there was nothing higher. Anyone who broke the law--no matter what the reason--was guilty of sin, and must be punished. In the end, Jesus broke so many of their laws that they condemned him to death--and proceeded to put that death sentence into effect. The Pharisees and other religious leaders of the day were the personification of the "old bottles" that Jesus was referring to. They simply could not contain the "new wine" that he offered. Their world was governed by laws, and strict obedience to those laws. Jesus' world was governed by love, which the law also served. For the Pharisees, humans were created in order to obey the law. For Jesus, the law was created in order to raise human beings to a higher level--and any law that did not serve that purpose was invalid. Notice that in both cases, there is a law. Jesus was not a lawless person. On the contrary, he said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17). The Pharisees observed the letter of the law, but Jesus followed the spirit of the law. This new, spiritual view of the law did not fit in the old bottles of the Pharisees' legalistic form of religion. That is why a new religion had to be formed. That is why, from our perspective, ancient Judaism gave way to Christianity. The new wine of deeper, spiritual truth that Jesus offered needed the new bottles of a different form of religious practice. The story of the new wine in the new bottles is about an old, legalistic religious perspective giving way to a new, love-based religious perspective. And the religious practices of the Christians were quite different than those of the Jews of that day. Gone was the strict legalism; in its place was a spiritual enthusiasm and outreach to others based on love for the Lord and love for their fellow human beings. Until Christianity itself became corrupted, its people spent their lives reaching out to others and serving their spiritual and physical needs out of love. All of this took place nearly two thousand years ago. And as always, we have to ask, "What does this have to do with our lives today?" On an individual level, we go through the same transformations in our emotional and spiritual lives as humanity goes through at the various turning points in history. And the life of Jesus was the biggest turning point of them all. The belief and teaching of the Christian Church is that the life of Christ was the event that turned around the spiritual history of the world. From being a condemnatory, legalistic affair, religion was transformed into something that gave comfort, peace, understanding, and love to humankind. This is also the change that takes place in us as we mature in our spiritual life. I remember all too well how, in my younger life, I believed that the essence of religion was to live properly according to the various teachings of the church. In a sense, there is nothing wrong with this. We _are_ meant to live in a law-abiding way. But when this becomes our primary way of being virtuous and religious, our "religion" tends to get off track. Speaking for myself, at one point in my life I would have made a pretty good Pharisee. Though I knew I wasn't perfect, I thought I was pretty darn good--and I knew that those other people weren't as "religious" as I was. They couldn't be, because they weren't living in the "right" way. They were breaking the rules. I suspect many of us can recognize ourselves in this, at some point in our lives. However, another side of this is that if we are sincere, and not hypocritical about our religion, we tend to condemn not only others, but ourselves. If we are honest about ourselves, we realize that we don't always do a very good job of living according to our own laws. We fall short in various ways, and then we point the accusing finger at ourselves, berating ourselves for being so weak and foolish. And instead of being a source of comfort, strength, and inner joy, our religion becomes a hard taskmaster, always pointing out our faults, always seeing where we fall short, and in the end making us feel hopeless about ourselves. Personally, I had to struggle with this legalistic view of the church for many years before my views of what religion was all about began to change. I can't point to any one event that brought about this change. Instead, I gradually began to realize the meaning of the Lord's words, "The Sabbath was made for mankind, not mankind for the Sabbath." I gradually began to understand that the point of religious and spiritual law is not so much to impose proper behavior on us from the outside (though there are times in our lives when we must relate to religion in this way), but more to transform us from the inside, so that our outward lives will be transformed along with our souls. I gradually realized that the law is not an end in itself, but rather is intended as a means toward expressing God's love in the world and among human beings. This idea would not have fit into my old concept of religion. The old me believed that if I could just follow all the rules properly, I would be a good person, and would be saved. Putting the law subordinate to love would have seemed too slippery a slope. After all, isn't love a subjective thing? If we all just do what we feel like doing, won't we act just as often in a selfish, thoughtless way as in a thoughtful, caring way? As long as we are thinking mostly about our own well-being--physical or spiritual--this is true. And looking back on it, I have to admit that my primary concern in those days was my own salvation. Yes, I wanted to do what was right; but I wanted to do it so that _I_ would be right--so that I would be saved and wouldn't have to suffer as others do. And as long as we are focused mostly on our own well-being, our love cannot be trusted. The real transformation comes when we begin to think about others as much as we think about ourselves, and especially when we begin to love God above all. If our primary goal in live is the happiness of others, then we have a love that can be trusted as a law of its own because this is the love that comes from God. In fact, when our primary goal is to give others happiness, we will eagerly search out the laws of human existence so that we can use them in improving the lot of others. Whether we focus on their physical life or on their spiritual life, if we truly love others, we will want to know how we can speak and act toward them in ways that will give them comfort, strength, joy, and meaning. Our very love will become a force within us continually seeking to understand the laws of life so that we can use them to show God's love to others. The Apostle Paul expressed this beautifully when he said: Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another; for those who love others have fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10) This is the new wine Jesus offered, which burst the bottles of the Pharisees' old attitudes toward the law. We, too, must give up whatever there is of literalism and legalism in our view of religion and the church. If we find ourselves thinking we are better than others because we are more enlightened and more law-abiding than they are, it is time to throw out those old bottles and get new ones. The point is not to be better and more righteous than others. The point is to do the best we can in showing others the love of God. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Mar 26 22:12:28 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 17:12:28 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Facing Our Demons" (Part 1), by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010326171016.00c1ac00@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Facing Our Demons: Part 1 By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 25, 2001 Readings: Deuteronomy 32:15-18: Sacrificing to demons Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not God--gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. Mark 5:1-20: Jesus heals a demon-possessed man They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Apocalypse Revealed #458: The meaning of sacrificing to demons "Demons" means evil cravings that come from materialistic loves. This is because in hell, anyone who has these cravings is called a demon. People who have these cravings also become demons after death. Further, there is a connection between demons and these kinds of people; for we are all connected with spirits as to our emotions--so much so that they make one. >From this we can see that worshiping demons means indulging in these cravings because we love them. Sermon: When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. (Mark 5:2) These days we don't talk much about being possessed by demons. Yes, popular horror films like _The Exorcist_, with their graphic portrayals of demonic possession, have made the rounds in our culture. But most respected professional types think the idea of possession is a throwback to earlier, more superstitious times. Now we have a much more _scientific_ view of things than they did in Biblical times; what they called demon possession, we call "mental illness." This, of course, is based on a worldview that does not accept the reality of the spiritual world--or takes it as a given that if the spiritual world is real, it can have no noticeable effect on the material world in which we live. Today, the educated leaders of our society tend to think more in scientific terms than in spiritual terms. Even most Christians in our culture would generally call an insane person "mentally ill" rather than "possessed by a demon." This is partly because there is less stigma attached to being mentally ill than to being demon-possessed. But it is also because in our scientific society, we are reluctant to accept the idea that there are spiritual forces--spiritual personalities--influencing us all the time. It is an ideal of science to be able to explain everything through physical and biological processes, without resorting to unseen entities from another realm. So just as we no longer think of physical illnesses as being caused by evil spirits molesting us, we are now trained to think of mental illnesses as originating, not in possession by devils, but in malfunctions of the brain. While this does take away much of the social stigma and much of the fear associated with the idea of demon possession, from a spiritual perspective it also takes away the most powerful ways to approach what we now call mental illness. Yes, the medical and psychiatric world has some impressive tools at their command for controlling mental illness. But many of these tools come at the expense of dealing with the deeper causes. They tend to control, but not cure the mental and emotional instability that plagues those who struggle and suffer with conditions that could aptly be called a personal hell. Medical treatments do have their place, especially for those who are not prepared to face the full depth of the dark forces pulling them down. However, I have come to believe that the only true and lasting "cure" of "mental illness" comes from a living relationship with the Lord--preferably within the fellowship of some kind of church or other spiritual group. Of course, there are some mental illnesses that are truly physical in origin--such as inherited handicaps that prevent people from fully maturing mentally. But for most adults with normal brain capacity, I believe the causes of "mental illness" are primarily spiritual. This does not mean that anyone who struggles with mental or emotional instability is somehow an especially evil or sinful person. Yes, if we continuously make bad choices, it can eventually send us off the deep end. But we may also be struggling against a great many influences beyond our control that have gradually torn down the structures of stability in our mind and spirit. Just as we can be physically sick either because we have lived in an unhealthful way or because we are stuck in an unhealthful environment, we can be spiritually sick both through our own choices and through the physical, emotional, and spiritual injuries that have been dealt to us by the world and the people around us. In other words, the point of saying that mental and emotional instability has spiritual causes is not to point fingers of blame and shame, but to provide a more powerful way to deal with that instability--no matter what its cause. The story of Jesus healing the demon-possessed man illustrates many of the issues we grapple with in approaching mental illness. Using the Biblical perspective, here was a man who was possessed not by one, but by many devils--so many they called themselves "Legion." This man was not in control of himself, and no one else could control him either: This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. If we look at the spiritual symbolism in this description, we gain a deeper understanding of the psychological reality that is expressed blatantly in mental illness, and more subtly even in those of us who think of ourselves as being mentally stable. Because what we call "mental illness" is really just an acting out of forces that are at work in all of us--but which are better controlled and concealed in some than in others. First, this man lived in the tombs. The tombs referred to in the story were caves in the cliffs along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, which were used as tombs for dead bodies, and were thus considered ritually unclean by the Jews. Spiritually, these tombs represent the mental and emotional death we experience when the life and love in us is destroyed by crippling encounters with the darker side of ourselves and of those around us. We "live in the tombs" spiritually when we cannot have a full, happy, and outgoing life because of the inner "demons" that continually tear at our thoughts and our feelings. We may try to control these dark, destructive feelings in various ways, just as the people of this region tried to control the demon-possessed man by binding him with chains. To use an example that falls short of what is usually defined as mental illness: if we have a compulsion to overeat, we may try to "bind" ourselves with various strict diets. But they usually don't work. After trying to force the diet on ourselves for a while, we tend to "tear off the chains" and go back to the way we were living before. Yes, some people manage to make it work. But for most people, external strictures can't control their inner impulses any more than the chains that bound that demon-possessed man could control him. "Night and day" he was "among the tombs and in the hills." Here is a description of the manic-depressive predicament before it was ever labeled that. "Night and day": sometimes things are dark as night, other times they are as bright as day. Sometimes we struggle with dark thoughts and feelings, other times we have joy and happiness. And then we are "among the tombs and in the hills." In our spiritual night time, we feel close to death inside of ourselves--and may even become suicidal. We are in the tombs. But then we may have times of great spiritual insight, when we metaphorically "climb the hills" to gain a higher view of life in general, and of our own predicament in particular. These times of insight and inspiration give us a sense of hope that helps keep us going in the darker times. And yet, just as the times of darkness and spiritual death give way to the spiritual mountains and hills of spiritual insight and inspiration, so our spiritual heights give way once again to the depths of struggle, depression, and despair. Or, if the desires and compulsions we are struggling with are less dramatic, our high resolves to give up the destructive habit that has us in its grip gives way to falling right back into the same old habit. When this happens, we "cut ourselves with stones." We know that the way we are living is wrong. We know we should do the right thing, and we know what the right thing is. This is the stone of truth: the knowledge of what is right and wrong--and that we are as often on the wrong side as on the right. We cannot be "blissfully ignorant." When we indulge once again, we chastise ourselves, call ourselves names, consider ourselves weak and stupid because we are not living up to our own ideals. We "cut ourselves with stones," punishing ourselves on top of the harm already being done by that habit or wrong behavior. It is a sorry state of affairs that is described by this demon-possessed man. And I'm afraid it is one that many, if not most of us are all too familiar with. We do not have to be medically classified as "mentally ill" to suffer from the emotional and spiritual effects pictured by the demon-possessed man in the story. And yet, whether or not a psychiatrist would call us mentally ill, the way to true and lasting inner healing is the same. Perhaps we will need to use medical means to stabilize our mental and emotional situation for a longer or shorter time. But it is only when we do what the demon-possessed man did that we begin the process of true, deep, spiritual healing that is necessary for us to be made completely whole and in our right minds. What did the demon-possessed man do? To quote again the words of our text, "When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him." The verse goes by so quickly that we could easily miss its tremendous significance. So let's read it again: "When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him." Did you notice it? This man didn't just stay in the tombs. When he saw the Lord, he came out to meet him. When he became aware of the power of God approaching, he took the initiative and approached the Lord. And when he did, he actually _ran_ and fell on his knees before Jesus. This is the missing element in all medical, psychiatric approaches to mental illness. The practitioners of these methods may be skillful in dealing with any physical malfunctions, and even with some of our psychological and emotional imbalances. But because they deny the present reality of spiritual forces, and avoid any reference to God--let alone calling on divine power--they can never deal with the _spiritual_ roots of what our society calls mental illness. They can never deal with the presence of inner evil, of our natural tendency toward self-absorption and toward focusing on material possessions and desires. Mere science, as powerful a tool as it can be on the things of this earth, has no power whatsoever to approach and deal with the spiritual level of a human being. Swedenborg--who himself came from a highly scientific background--had no such trouble bringing spiritual realities to bear on physical and mental illnesses. In interpreting passages such as the one we read from Deuteronomy, he tells us that "demons mean evil cravings that come from materialistic loves," and that "worshiping demons means indulging in these cravings because we love them." Here is the crux of the matter. Whether we have knowingly made choices that led to our present state of mind or whether we were thrust into it by overwhelming emotional forces and events in our lives, we come into a state in which we get used to our particular hurtful patterns, and may even gain a kind of pleasure from them. This is certainly true of various kinds of addiction. I would suggest that it is true of other self-limiting and self-destructive behaviors as well. We eventually attach ourselves to them; we think, "this is the way I really am," and we crave to indulge in the habits that are busily killing us. Only a power greater than our own loves, emotions, and cravings can break through that evil spiritual "legion" and restore us to wholeness and genuine sanity. Only the greater power of the Lord working in our lives can accomplish it--because God's love is the only force in the universe more powerful than human loves and desires. The Lord is landing on our shores now. The divine power is present to heal us now. And if, like the demon-possessed man in the story, we approach the Lord, not walking, but running to bow down in the divine presence, we will begin to feel that healing power in our lives. If we open up our hearts and minds to the powerful, healing presence of God's love and wisdom, we will find true healing for our inner struggles. Perhaps it will not happen all at once as it did in this story. We each go at our own pace. But healing will come. Next week we will explore further just how that healing happens. For today, I would like to leave you with this thought: our mental, emotional, and spiritual healing all begins with approaching the Lord Jesus and placing our lives in the Lord's care and keeping. Amen. From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Apr 1 22:32:28 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2001 17:32:28 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Facing Our Demons: Part 2," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010401173003.00bcd240@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Facing Our Demons: Part 2 By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 1, 2001 Readings: Isaiah 57:14-21: "And I will heal them" And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people." For this is what the high and lofty One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of the people would grow faint before me--the breath of the people whom I have created. "I was angered by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to them, creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the Lord. "And I will heal them." But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." Mark 6:1-13: Authority over evil spirits Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What is this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offence at him. Jesus said to them, "Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went round teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons, and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. Divine Providence #281.2 Our evils must be seen to be healed >From the time of our birth, we are caught up in many different evil things. These evils are in our motivation--and we love whatever is in our motivation. For we love whatever we want from our inner self, and we want whatever we love. The love in our motivation flows into the understanding, which is where we feel its pleasures. From there it enters into our thoughts and also into our intentions. If we were not allowed to think according to the love in our motivation (which is planted in us by inheritance), that love would remain shut in, and we would never see it. Evil loves that we do not see are like an enemy lying in ambush, like matter in an ulcer, like poison in the blood, and like corruption in our chest which, if they are kept shut in, will kill us. But when we are allowed to think the evil things of our life's love even to the point of intending to do them, they are healed by spiritual means just as diseases are healed by physical means. Sermon: They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons, and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. (Mark 6:12, 13) Last week, as we looked at the story of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man, we confronted the issue of "mental illness," as it is called in our society. Instead of treating this as a separate issue from those who are not considered "mentally ill," we put it on a continuum with the inner struggles all of us face against the darker and more difficult parts of our personality. We believe that the Bible is the story of the spiritual lives of every one of us. And the inclusion of a story about a demon-possessed man tells us that we each face our own demons, and need the Lord's help in casting those demons out. At the end of last week's sermon, I left you with the thought that in the same way the demon-possessed man had to approach and worship Jesus in order to be restored to health and sanity, our mental, emotional, and spiritual healing begins when we approach the Lord Jesus and place our lives in the Lord's care and keeping. Our Gospel reading for today comes shortly after last week's story. In contrast to the demon-possessed man who lived across the Jordan river in foreign territory, the people of Jesus' home town of Nazareth did not accept him. In fact, they took offense at this local boy presuming to teach them in their synagogue. Because of their lack of faith, we are told, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them." Though it is set two thousand years ago, this is really talking about us--about those of us who consider ourselves Christian. And it is especially talking about those of us who "grew up" with the Lord in our lives--whether that means we attended a Christian church from our childhood or whether we later "grew up" spiritually in a Christian congregation. As the old saying goes, "familiarity breeds contempt." Last week I made some big claims about how the Lord can come into our lives and heal us of all manner of mental, emotional, and spiritual sicknesses. None of that will happen if we have grown so used to Jesus and Christianity that, like the people of Jesus' home town, we don't accept the divine, personal power that the Lord has both to teach us and to heal us. Do we believe that the Lord God has the greatest and most effective power to heal us? Or do we believe, when push comes to shove, that human means--such as counselors, psychotherapists, and the power of positive thinking--hold the keys to our mental and spiritual wellbeing? Do we think that going to church can make us a little better and a little nicer, but when it comes to the really tough issues, it's time to call in the experts? Or do we accept the truly radical teaching of the Gospels that the Lord Jesus is our Physician and Healer? I am not suggesting that anyone who wants or needs counseling and therapy should not take advantage of these tools for mental and emotional wellbeing. We are meant to help and rely upon one another as well. But the true and greatest source of healing is among us and within us all the time; and we make the same mistake that the residents of Nazareth did if we do not accept that divine source. As I said last week, I do not believe there can be any true and deep healing unless we consciously bring the Lord into our lives. There are many reasons why this is so. For now, I would like to focus on just one of them. One of the perennial problems of counseling and therapy is that there is often not a clearly defined and effective goal. Is the goal to help clients fit in with the existing society? If so, what if the existing society is out of whack? And how do therapists decide which part of a widely varying culture to "normalize" clients to? Is the goal to help clients to accept themselves as they are? If so, what if there are aspects of the clients' personalities that really need to change? Is there some objective moral or ethical standard that the therapist is attempting to bring clients' lives into harmony with? If so, where do we get those moral and ethical standards, and who decides which standards are valid and worth following? What it all boils down to is that as long as we rely on humans and human society to provide us with our norms and our goals, we will always be building on shifting sands. We humans are a changeable lot. We are a mixture of saint and sinner, both individually and collectively. And sometimes it is awfully hard to sort out which part is which. God provides us with a way out of this confusion. The Lord, we are told in the Bible, is the rock upon which our lives must be built. And unlike shifting, changing human beings, the Lord God is eternal and unchanging. When we bring the Lord into our lives, we have a true, higher standard that we can always be moving toward as our goal. The Lord gives a direction and purpose to our healing process and to our entire life that we cannot get from any other source. The Lord provides the standard of perfection toward which we can aspire. That standard of perfection has a specific "personality" that is extremely helpful to us as we try to figure out what direction we need to go in order to move from "mental illness" to spiritual health. If we can understand and feel the nature of God, and see where we are not in harmony with God's nature, we can begin our healing journey. Let's look at the most important aspect of the Divine personality, and see what it means for our healing process. The final verse of our Gospel reading mentions that after Jesus had sent his twelve disciples out, they "anointed many sick people with oil and healed them." In those days, oil was what kept the lamps burning, both in the Temple and in people's homes at night. The flame of the lamps gave both warmth and light. Spiritually speaking, the "oil" that fuels our hearts and minds is nothing but the Lord's love in us. And it is when we are inwardly anointed with the "oil" of the Lord's love that we find healing. We preachers are always talking about God's love. "God's love this, God's love that!" After a while, it may seem more like a mantra than a practical, real life power. So let's get specific. Swedenborg writes: The essence of love is not loving ourselves, but loving others and being united with them through love. The essence of love is also being loved by others. This is how the union takes place. . . . Love consists of having what belongs to us belong to others. Feeling another person's joy as joy in ourselves--that is what it means to love." (_Divine Love and Wisdom_ #47) In other words, real love--God's love--is getting outside of ourselves and making others happy. Real love is not inward-looking, but outward looking; not ingrown, but outgoing. I am going to go out on a limb and state perhaps a little too categorically that in all "mental illness" and personal angst there is an element of inward-looking self-absorption. When we are caught in the throes of depression, or locked in some compulsive behavior, or spinning out of control mentally or emotionally, we tend to be pretty well wrapped up in our own feelings, our own thoughts, our own behaviors. While other people certainly do figure into the picture, the focal point of our picture tends to be ourselves and our own problems. I do not say this to pass any judgments. Many people balk at the church's teaching that we all start out involved in evil and selfishness. "How could you say that about a sweet, innocent little baby?" Yes, the innocence of babies is their saving grace--and Swedenborg tells us that the highest angels are presence in that innocence. But let's be honest. Babies are basically wrapped up in themselves, and they really don't think about anyone else's comfort. This is where we all start out: wrapped up in ourselves. Even as adults, before we turn our lives over to the Lord and begin consciously working to re-form ourselves spiritually in the Lord's image and likeness, we start out thinking mostly about how we can enjoy a good life with all its pleasures and perks. I believe that the Bible and Swedenborg both are simply being realistic in describing where we come from. So it is not a matter of shame that we start out all wrapped up in ourselves. It is simply the way we are wired at first. Our task here on earth is to allow the Lord to come in and rewire us so that instead of thinking of ourselves first, we think of the Lord and other people first. In other words, we need to be rewired to feel and express genuine love for one another--the kind of love that the Lord has for us. The Bible calls this rewiring "repentance." The first thing the twelve disciples did when they were sent out was to "preach that people should repent." Repentance is another word people often have trouble with. Doesn't this mean we are bad? Well . . . yes. Which one of us doesn't have parts of ourselves that we are not proud of? That hurt ourselves and the people around us? That really ought to change? Let's call a spade a spade. If it hurts people, it is bad. If it hurts people, it is evil. And that evil comes from our thoughts and feelings. Repentance is the process by which we stop feeling, thinking, and doing things that hurt. The Greek word for "repentance" simply means "changing our mind." Repentance is a process of inner change by which we leave behind our old, self-limiting, destructive attitudes and behaviors and begin to live in a new way. When we realize that we're mostly wrapped up in our own pain and pleasure, and that we are very far away from having the love of God that is positive and outgoing, we need the life-changing power of repentance. This process begins with learning about God. What is God's love like? What is God's truth? How does it apply to us? What would we be like if we were living the life God created us to live? If we were fully the person God created us to be? It moves to taking an honest look at ourselves to identify specific areas where we fall short. In twelve step programs, this is the step of making "a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." When we have discovered one or two things that we can work on, we not only admit to them honestly, but we take personal responsibility for them. We then commit ourselves to changing them, recognizing that on our own, we cannot do it, but with God's help, and with the help of others who are on a spiritual path, we can. And so, in prayer to God and in mutual support, we begin living in a different way. The Lord can heal us only if we are willing to face our demons in this head-on, conscious, and committed way. And I would like to leave you with one very practical way to not only face our demons, but cast them out and replace them with God's love. For all of us, but especially in the case of "mental illness," one of the most powerful tools for healing is to physically get out and do something for someone else. Perhaps we will not be able to do very much at first. But think about it. The nature of love is to love others, to serve them, to give them happiness, and to feel their joy as joy in ourselves. This is exactly what we are lacking when we're all wrapped up in our own problems, whether those problems are severe and debilitating or mild and merely annoying. The greatest antidote to our natural self-absorption is to get out there and do something for someone! It may be through taking a new attitude toward our job: doing our job cheerfully with a commitment to serving others instead of just doing it to get a paycheck. It may be through volunteering in some kind of community service. It may be simply through thinking of ways to make our family members, friends, and neighbors happy by doing things for them. Perhaps this seems too simple to make a difference. Yet there are powerful healing benefits in simply getting out there and doing something useful for others. As we focus our minds outside of ourselves--even if it is a struggle at first--we soon find healing connections with others. We enter into their joys and struggles, and this makes our own struggles seem smaller. At the same time, we increase our joy because we are feeling the joy of others in a way we never did before. Gradually, the personal pains and struggles that had been the focal point of our lives will move aside, and our life will be transformed almost without our realizing it. When this happens, we will have experienced the healing power of God's love in action. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Apr 8 20:29:50 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2001 16:29:50 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "The Coming Kingdom," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010408162912.0213ce10@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Coming Kingdom By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 8, 2001 Palm Sunday Readings: Psalm 45:1-6: God's kingdom will last forever My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. In your majesty ride forth victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. Mark 11:1-10: The Triumphal Entry As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'" They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" Arcana Coelestia #3796.4: The Lord's Kingdom When our goal is the good of our neighbor, the common good, the good of the church, and the good of the Lord's kingdom, then our soul is in the Lord's kingdom, which means it is with the Lord. For the Lord's kingdom is nothing but a kingdom of goals and service for the good of humanity. Sermon: Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" (Mark 11:10) A couple of nights ago I came home to find a message on my answering machine from a newspaper reporter. She was writing a story for the religion section of the paper she worked for, and wanted to know what we were doing for Passover. It was a little late to call her back, so I hope she got enough material for her article without finding out how the New Jerusalem Church observes Passover! I suppose I could have played along a bit. I could have told her that in our upcoming service we would be doing our own version of a Passover seder--only in our tradition, a couple of millennia ago the ritual was revised, and we now call it the Holy Supper, or Communion. And that instead of its commemorating our release from literal slavery, our version of the Passover represents our release from _spiritual_ slavery to the evil and destructive forces within us and around us. By this time, I'm sure she would have realized her mistake. But if I could just squeeze one more thing in, I would explain that by the bread of communion we understand the love and goodness of the Lord, and by the wine we understand the divine truth that satisfies all our spiritual thirst. Our release from spiritual slavery comes through accepting into our lives the life-giving love and wisdom of the Lord, I would say. Then, to redeem myself, and make the time she spent with me a little more worthwhile for her article, I might refer her to the Orthodox Rabbi who came last month and gave us a wonderful talk about his faith. She made a common mistake. People hear "Jerusalem," and immediately think of Judaism. And with my beard, I could make a passable Rabbi. Of course, anyone who really knows their Bible will know that the New Jerusalem, from which our church takes its name, appears in the New Testament, not the Old Testament. To be exact, it comes from the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation. For Christians, it represents the climax of the entire Bible story. The New Jerusalem comes when all the spiritual enemies of God and humanity have finally been defeated, so that God's love and truth can reign supreme in the world. This is the inspiring vision that our church looks to. And what distinguishes us from most other churches is that we believe the New Jerusalem is already descending upon our earth. As we look at the huge changes that have taken place in the world over the last few hundred years, we cannot help but realize that we are living in a new era. With the new level of human freedom that now exists on our earth--both freedom of mind and freedom of body--there has come a huge explosion of new science, new philosophy, new psychology, new technology, and new understanding in all the many areas that the human mind can explore--including the nature of humanity itself. This, we believe, is the result of a new spiritual era now dawning upon our earth. The events leading up to this new spiritual era took place primarily in the spiritual world, in the form of a re-ordering of heaven, hell, and the intermediate world of spirits so that truth and love could once again flow freely from God through the angels and into human beings on earth, both individually and collectively. In our church, we also believe that a new revelation appropriate to this new spiritual era has been given to us in the form of the religious writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg's original and greatest goal in his spiritual writings was to open up the deeper meaning of the Bible so that we would no longer have to struggle with the often confusing and sometimes contradictory statements of the literal meaning of the Bible, but could see the entire Bible as a divine parable telling us of our inner rebirth and growth as new spiritual beings in the image and likeness of God. We are freed from the burden of Fundamentalist Christians, who must come up with fancy and involved explanations as to how the world really could have been created in six days despite the monumental amount of evidence to the contrary, and how the sun, moon, and stars could fall to the earth in a final destruction of our world when we now know that the sun and stars are vastly larger than the earth and would vaporize it long before they got close enough to hit the ground--not to mention forming a black hole in the aftermath. To us, the Bible stories that these and other unlikely scenarios are based on were never intended to be taken literally. Instead they are divine parables telling us how God creates us spiritually, and how we are spiritually destroyed when we turn away from God's love and wisdom, and instead engulf ourselves in self-centeredness and the pride of our own intellectual achievements. The cataclysms described in Revelation take place, not in the physical world, but in the world of human minds and hearts. They also take place on the grand scale of global human movements, which can lead to great spiritual destruction when they are based on human desires and philosophies and not on eternal, divine law. I believe we have been through just such a period of spiritual destruction caused by our own selfishness and greed. If we look back at the Christian Church in the Middle Ages, which have also been called the Dark Ages, we see the powerfully healing and inspiring message of Jesus turned into an oppressive force which kept people firmly under the thumb of the Church--whose main goal for a number of centuries seemed to be the accumulation of material wealth and power. The terrible wars of Christians against Christians, and of Christians against people of other faiths--especially Muslims and Jews--should be enough to assure us that the Christian Church had long since abandoned the teachings of Jesus, who taught us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us and persecute us. Today, of course, our world is still far from being a perfect place. We still have wars and rumors of wars. We still have hatred, anger, and pride. We still have poverty, hunger, and oppression. We still have misunderstanding and mistrust of those who are "not like us." However, any objective observer would have to say that we have made great strides from where we were even a century ago, let alone three or four centuries ago. So it is with a sense of optimism that we speak of "The Coming Kingdom." We can see the tremendous changes being brought about in human society--many, even if not all, for the better. We can look forward to a time of greater human enlightenment, greater mutual understanding, greater love and compassion for our fellow human beings both on a small scale and on a large scale. There were probably few in the exultant crowd that ushered Jesus into Jerusalem who understood that this was the kind of kingdom he had come to set up. Most of them probably thought that this Jesus, whom they believed and hoped to be their long-awaited Messiah, would be the one to finally throw off Roman rule and re-establish Israel as a strong, independent nation that would not only rule itself, but all the surrounding nations as well. In essence, they wanted to change place with the Romans, and be the rulers instead of the ruled. But Jesus made it abundantly clear that his kingdom is not of this world. Rather, his kingdom exists wherever truth rules and love abounds. His kingdom exists when human beings leave behind the lust for money and power, and devote themselves instead to the love and service of their fellow human beings. The coming kingdom of the Lord is not one where God's righteousness is enforced by governments that rule with a rod of iron, but where God's love and truth rules in human hearts. Imagine, for a moment, what the world would be like if everyone in it were motivated by love for the Lord and love for their fellow human beings. Imagine what our community would be like if every one of us got our greatest joy from serving others and making them happy. Henry Drummond (1851-1897) a nineteenth century Scottish evangelical writer and lecturer who became a New Church (Swedenborgian) teacher, held such a vision. He wrote: One Christian city, one city in any part of the earth whose citizens, from the greatest to the humblest, live in the spirit of Christ, where religion has overflowed the churches and passed into the streets, inundating every house and workshop, and permeating the whole social and commercial life--one such Christian city would seal the redemption of the world. The Holy City, New Jerusalem, is just such a city. And as Jesus entered the old Jerusalem nearly two thousand years ago, this was the vision he held in his heart. He held the vision of a time when all the peoples of the earth would turn to God, surrendering their selfish wills to the divine will. He held the vision of a time when the lion would lie down with the lamb, because no one would bear any ill will toward anyone else, but all would live toward one another with the spiritual power of a lion, but the heavenly innocence of a lamb. The kingdom of God cannot be built by human governments and institutions. It is a kingdom built from the inside out. That building starts within each one of us, as we accept the Lord into our minds and hearts. Every day that we commit ourselves to thinking, feeling, and acting according to the Lord's way of love and truth, of compassion and mutual understanding, we are building the kingdom of God both within us and around us. Let's build the kingdom of God! Amen. From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Apr 16 00:46:37 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:46:37 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Beauty from Ashes," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010415204527.0204e820@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Beauty from Ashes By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 15, 2001 Easter Sunday Readings: Isaiah 61:1-3: Beauty instead of ashes The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Mark 16: The Resurrection When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were frightened. "Don't be frightened," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterwards Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Arcana Coelestia #2405: The Lord's resurrection in us "Morning," in its genuine meaning, symbolizes the Lord and his coming, and therefore the coming of his kingdom. So it is clear what else is meant by "morning," namely, the rise of a new church; for that church is the Lord's kingdom on earth. The Lord's kingdom is meant both generally and in individual cases, and even in specific instances. The kingdom of the Lord comes in a general way when any church on earth is re-established on a new basis. It comes individually when we as individuals are spiritually reborn and become new people, for the Lord's kingdom is then being established in us and we are becoming the church. And it happens specific instances as often as the goodness that flows from love and faith is at work in us, since this is what the Lord's coming consists of. So the Lord's resurrection on the third morning embodies in an individual and specific sense the truth that the Lord rises in our minds daily, and even every single moment, when we have been spiritually reborn. Sermon: The Lord has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners; . . . to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (Isaiah 61:1, 3) The phoenix was a legendary bird of Egyptian and Greek mythology. It was a large and beautiful bird at least the size of an eagle, with brilliant gold and reddish-purple feathers. As the most common form of the legend goes, every five hundred years, when it came time for the phoenix to die, it would build itself a nest that was also its funeral pyre, set the nest on fire, and be consumed in the flames. However, that ending was also a new beginning. Out of the ashes of the bird that had been consumed by fire, a new phoenix, young, strong, and beautiful, would arise and begin its five hundred year life cycle. So the phoenix symbolized immortality and spiritual rebirth. It also represented the sun, which dies in its flames each evening, and emerges new and powerful each morning. The sun, in turn, has from ancient times been seen as a symbol of the Creator God, from whom all life comes. The prophet Isaiah was sent by God with a similar message of spiritual rebirth and new life to a people whose future captivity and exile under the Babylonian empire he had already prophesied. In effect, he said, "You will be destroyed as a people and driven from your land. But in your misery, the Lord will visit you, and restore you to joy and gladness in your own land." In figurative language, he said that the Lord would "bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Beauty instead of ashes. For the ancient Israelites, ashes carried a greater meaning beyond being the remains after something had been destroyed by fire. Ashes had taken on an additional symbolic meaning. Whenever the Israelites were in mourning, or some great disaster had fallen upon them, or they had received a message of punishment from God because of their disobedience and waywardness, they would show their sorrow and repentance by putting ashes on their head, and also by wearing coarse sack cloth (think: burlap) in place of their usual comfortable garments. So ashes symbolized sadness and mourning. While we tend to hide our sorrow and mourning from others, the ancient Israelites were very public about theirs. No one could miss someone who was in mourning! And needless to say, people who walked around wearing sackcloth, and with ashes all through their hair, were not the most beautiful sight. In a time of great national catastrophe, nearly everyone would be walking around in sackcloth and ashes, and it was a pitiful sight. So the promise of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning (oil was used as an aid to beauty), and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair had a wonderful feeling. It spoke of catastrophe and pain being lifted off their shoulders, and replaced with the joy of freedom, the warmth of love, and the richness of life. As always, the Bible is not talking only about events that took place thousands of years ago among a people who have long since ceased to exist on this earth. It is also talking about our lives today. We all have our times of pain and struggle, of grief and sadness, of depression and despair. Like the mythological phoenix, we all come to times when our life as we have known it is going up in smoke; when it seems as if everything is at an end. We all have times when we feel that there is no use continuing, because there is nothing left to live for. And these times seem to come around a lot more often than every five hundred years! For the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, the legend of the phoenix gave precious hope in times of despair. For the ancient Israelites, Isaiah's beautiful prophecy gave a similar hope when it seemed as if their nation had been destroyed and they would never again know gladness. As Christians, when we are at the low points of our lives. we have an even greater source of hope, and an even greater promise of new life and joy. It is the event that we celebrate today: the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. With nearly two thousand years worth of hindsight, as we read the story of the crucifixion and the women going to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body, it is hard not to be thinking of what came next. But when those women actually went to the tomb, they had no expectation of finding anything other than the dead body of the one they had called Lord and Master. Their hopes had been crushed; the one who gave them joy and salvation was dead; and all that was left to do was to give him a proper burial. This is the very same state of mind we are in when disaster has struck in our lives. When we have lost someone we dearly love; when we have experienced the breakup of a relationship or a close friendship; when serious physical illness has stricken us; or when we have come to a crisis point in our lives for any other reason, all we see is an ending and a death. It is the death of the life we have been living up to now. And like those women who went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body, we expect the ending and the death to be final. We cannot see any life beyond our present pain and grief. We see only the end of what was. At that point, it is not certain that we _will_ have new life. There are some unfortunate souls who become stuck in their grief and pain. They spend many years--sometimes even the rest of their lives--mourning their loss, unwilling or unable to move on. Spiritually speaking, what set Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome apart was that even in their grief and despair, they turned to the Lord. Even when they believed that the Lord was dead to them, they turned their minds and hearts toward him to see what they could do for him--even if it was the _last_ thing they could do for him. In our times of grief and despair, we, too, may feel that the presence of the Lord is dead within us. We may feel that God is no longer present--that God _could not_ be present if something so terrible has been allowed to happen. And yet if, like those three women, we can still turn our minds toward the Lord, still try to do what we can for God even when we feel there is no hope left, something wonderful happens! When we turn to the Lord after our hope has died, we experience within ourselves the resurrection of the Lord. When we turn toward the Lord at our lowest times, we find that he is not dead in the tomb as we expected. Where we thought we would find only death, we instead find new life in our souls. Where we expected our sorrow to continue forever, we find comfort and a growing sense of spiritual peace. Where we expected only mourning, we find new reasons for joy growing out of the very ashes of our sorrow. This is the story of the Lord rising again in us. Though we may not believe it at first, God has in store for us a rich new life of happiness, joy, and love--even when the old pain lingers. There is a deeper resurrection that takes place in us, too. When our old self dies in flames and ashes, the new person that arises from those ashes is different from what we were before. From the pain of loss and grief comes the warmth of love and compassion for others who have gone through similar dark passages. From the questioning of God, the questioning of the church, the questioning of life itself comes a new and deeper understanding of God's purposes and Gods love, a deeper appreciation of the church's healing message, and a renewed sense of purpose in our lives. The loss we experienced defines more clearly for us what is important and what is not. Buildings are not important; people are. Being right is not important; understanding others thoughts and feelings is. Money is not important; human love is. This world is not important; the Lord's deeper presence in our lives is. As we focus more on the things that truly matter--love, sharing, understanding, and giving happiness to one another--there is another resurrection that takes place in us. It is the resurrection of our true spiritual self: the one that is moved by love, and lives in God's light. This is the wonderful message and promise the Lord Jesus gives to each one of us today. Our old self has died. Now our new self is ready to be born from its ashes, young, strong, and beautiful in spirit. This is the resurrection that we can experience not only once in a lifetime, but every day, and even every moment, as we turn to the Lord and open up our hearts and minds to the presence of the Lord's comforting, powerful, enlightening, and beautiful presence. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Apr 23 12:42:27 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 08:42:27 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "The Innocence of a Child," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010423084146.00b5f1a0@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Innocence of a Child By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 22, 2001 Readings: Psalm 131: My heart is not proud My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore. Mark 10:13-16: Little children and Jesus People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples scolded them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them. Heaven and Hell #278: Living in innocence When we are in a state of innocence, we do not take credit for anything good, but ascribe and attribute everything to the Lord. We want to be led by the Lord and not by ourselves. We love everything that is good, and delight in everything that is true because we know and perceive that loving what is good--which means intending and doing good--is loving the Lord, and loving what is true is loving our neighbor. Further, we live content with what we have, whether it is little or much, because we know that we receive as much as is useful--little if little is good for us, and much if much is good for us. We do not know what is best for ourselves; only the Lord knows. And in the Lord's sight, everything given is eternal. Sermon: Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. (Mark 10:14, 15) This year, I'm getting a jump on children's Sunday and giving you a sermon on children a bit early. But it's not really about children. It's about us. In the Gospel story, the children had no problems at all. They were coming to Jesus along with their parents, happy to be in his presence and feel his love. It was the adults--actually, Jesus' own disciples--who were having a problem. We don't know exactly what was going through their minds when they began to turn away the parents who were bringing their children to Jesus. Perhaps they thought Jesus was much too important a man to "waste" his time with mere children. After all, in those days children were mainly valued as future adults who would provide labor in the family business and carry on the family name. Until then, they were a drain on the family resources. In modern day financial language, we might say that children were often seen as an investment in the future, not a current asset. Perhaps the disciples thought that Jesus' time was better spent teaching adults, who could understand what he was saying, and have their lives changed by it. Time spent with children was time not spent with adults who might accept the message. Or perhaps they were simply acting the part of a celebrity's "handlers," trying to keep him from being swamped and exhausted by the people. Whatever their reasons, Jesus was not at all happy when he realized that his disciples were preventing parents from bringing their children to him. This is when he said those famous words--not to the parents, but to the disciples: "Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And then, we are told, "he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them." In the context of his culture, taking the children in his arms and blessing them was not so surprising. It was a custom in those days for mothers to bring their children to a Rabbi on their first birthday so that he would bless them. The more distinguished the Rabbi, the better it was. So these mothers were giving Jesus a compliment by bringing their children to him. And in blessing them, he was accepting the role of a Rabbi--a spiritual leader. What _was_ surprising was the high honor he gave the children by his words. "The kingdom of God belongs to people like these," he said, and continued on to tell the adults that they must also become like little children in order to enter heaven. Of course, this has led to a lot of discussion over the centuries as to just what he meant. One popular Christian commentary offers four qualities of children that adults may need in order to enter heaven: Children have not lost their _sense of wonder_ as adults so often have. Children's lives are founded on _trust_ that their needs will be met. Children are naturally _obedient_, even though they do rebel and disobey, too. Children are very _forgiving_, and soon forget and move past all sorts of wrongs done to them. I would suggest that all four of these qualities--a sense of wonder, trust, obedience, and forgiveness--could be brought under one quality that Emanuel Swedenborg offers as the primary characteristic of children, and especially of young children: innocence. Even though children are most often entirely wrapped up in their own feelings and desires in a way that would be considered, well, childish in an adult, we can't help but love them. Why? Because they mean no harm by anything they do. They innocently and spontaneously express what is within, and the quality of simple trust and harmlessness that suffuses everything they say and do gives them an endearing quality that few of us manage to retain into adulthood. As children grow, their early innocence rapidly fades, and though there are still vestiges of it even into the teenage years, parents must find another basis on which to love their older children. The innocence of childhood is extraordinarily difficult to recapture as an adult. In fact, let's be honest: as long as we live on this earth and our minds remain fully functioning, we can never again experience the utter innocence of young children whose parents love and care for them. We have seen too much, and we know too much. We have seen too much of the seamy side of life--of people treating each other badly and _not_ being trustworthy; of people taking advantage of others and doing great damage to them. We know too much of what can happen to people in this world who do not protect themselves from that seamy side of life. We may have had our own innocence taken advantage of; or we may have seen others "taken to the cleaners," so to speak, when they really didn't deserve it. Besides, as adults, we normally do not have parents taking care of all our physical needs--not to mention our emotional needs. As children, unless we had neglectful or abusive parents, or some other social or family situation that caused us not to be taken care of properly, we simply assumed that there would be food on the table, clothes on our bodies, and a roof over our heads. These were givens. And even if we were neglected, what sustenance we did get generally came from others, and not from our own efforts--especially when we were very young. For adults, these things aren't true anymore. It can be a rude awakening when our schooling is finished and we realize that if we don't get a job and make some money, we won't have a place to stay, food to eat, or clothes to wear. Going back to our parents' place is an option, but it is generally at the cost of not being able to feel like full, independent adults. What we look for as young adults is not innocence--not trusting others to provide for our wants and needs and make decisions for us--but independence: the ability to take care of ourselves and decide for ourselves what we will do from minute to minute, day to day, week to week, and year to year. As older children, teenagers, and young adults, we work hard at being able to take care of ourselves and run our own lives. And we have no intention of going back to being dependent on someone else. Perhaps this is why we have a whole lifetime to become childlike again. Perhaps this is why it is only in our elder years, when we either no longer need to work to support ourselves and our families or are no longer able to work, that we can enter our "second childhood." Perhaps it takes us a whole adult life full of being self-sufficient in order to realize that we humans are not meant to be self-sufficient. When we come to that realization, we begin once again to acquire in ourselves the quality of innocence that has been largely missing from our lives ever since early childhood. It is often in our final years on this earth that we once again develop a sense of wonder, trust, obedience (to whom?), forgiveness, and the other qualities of innocence. In its more common definitions, innocence involves two qualities. One is harmlessness: the inability or unwillingness to hurt or do evil to anyone or anything. And if we are unable or unwilling to do harm, then except when we make a mistake or lack proper understanding of a situation, we in fact _do_ no harm to anyone or anything. This is the kind of innocence that the courts deal with, and it is in contrast to guilt, which involves a willingness and even a desire to harm another person, which is carried out in action when there is an opportunity to do so. The other quality associated with innocence, though it is not as often clearly identified, is a willingness to be led by others rather than insisting on following our own judgment. In our culture, which does not put a high value on this aspect of innocence, it is often labeled inexperience or naivet?. Only emotional weaklings and people who don't know better would allow themselves to be led around by others like sheep. Yes, that is okay for little children, but mature adults should run their own lives, and not be at someone else's beck and call! So how can a self-respecting adult in our society ever heed Jesus' words and become like a child again, after putting out years and years of effort to become a self-responsible, self-directing adult? It flies in the face of all our instincts. And that is exactly the problem. After childhood, our instincts are all in the direction of becoming the master of our own fate, the ruler of our own lives. Dependence on others for any of our basic needs makes us vulnerable--and our instincts tell us that we should be strong and self-reliant, not trusting anything important to someone other than ourselves. After all, if we trust someone else to take care of one of our fundamental needs, what if they don't follow through? It's better to take care of it ourselves, and be sure that it will get done. Unfortunately, if we stick to those instincts, we find ourselves becoming more and more isolated from everyone around us. If we are not able to open up in trust to others, but keep all our most sensitive wants and needs to ourselves, our world becomes smaller and smaller, until even those we should feel the closest to--our best friends and closest family members--begin to feel emotionally distant. The price for self-sufficiency is a lack of relationship. And we humans, for all our instincts toward self-reliance, have an even deeper need: the need for relationship and community with other human beings. It is this need that gradually brings us around, and causes us to move back toward the innocence of children. Children live in a web of relationships that are essential to their physical and emotional wellbeing. Separated from parents and family, and later from friends and mentors, they soon wither and die emotionally and even physically. Even as adults, it is a fiction that we are in any way self-sufficient. We work for other people and are paid and supported by other people in a vast economic web so complex that thousands of economists can spend their lifetimes studying it, and still not fully understand it. And the emotional web of relationships that we live in is an order of magnitude more complex, so that psychologists and psychiatrists admit that we only understand a tiny fraction of what there is to know about the human mind, and even less about what goes on when human beings relate to each other, either one-on-one or as part of a group. In truth, we are _always_ dependent on others even for our most basic daily needs. But we spend a certain part of our adulthood with the rather illogical feeling that we are "supporting ourselves." Perhaps it is a necessary illusion. Perhaps we would not get up each morning and make our contribution to society if we didn't think that we were supporting ourselves by our efforts. And God has constructed this world so that one way or another, we can find the motivation we need to get out of ourselves and be of service to our fellow human beings. For most of us, it takes a lifetime of "supporting ourselves" before we begin to look beneath the surface and realize that all along, we have been supported by more people than we ever realized. We come to realize just how much we depend upon others only when we look back on those times in our lives when we were reaching the end of our rope, and then someone stepped in to keep us from falling; or when we simply weren't strong enough on our own, and the help that we needed was there for us. This is when we can begin once again to have the innocence of a child. Only now, that innocence has a new quality that children have not yet had time to develop. The innocence of children is not an intentional innocence. Children are innocent because they don't know any better and do not have enough strength or experience to do any real harm. The innocence we develop later in life is not from inexperience or naivet?, but from wisdom. It is the wisdom of knowing that on our own, we are incomplete human beings. It is the innocence of knowing the difference between right and wrong, between good and evil, and consciously choosing what is good and right because we believe that is the best way to follow. And especially, it is the innocence of being willing to relinquish control over our own lives--not to any other human being or any human institution, but to God. We can never go back to the same kind of innocence we had as children, nor would we want to. But we can move forward to the true innocence of a complete trust in the goodness and love of God, and a full and joyous desire do spend our lives doing only what is good and right in order to bring peace and happiness to our fellow human beings. And yes, we do become children once again: we become children of God. Amen. ------------------------------------- Rev. Lee Woofenden, Pastor Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 508-946-1767 (home office) 508-697-3068 (church office) 508-946-1757 (fax) Email address: mailto:leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Lee Woofenden's Sermons: http://www.leewoof.org Denominational site: http://www.swedenborg.org From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Apr 29 22:40:42 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 18:40:42 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Eating in the Upper Room," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010429183959.0222d690@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Eating in the Upper Room By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 29, 2001 Readings: Psalm 104:1-13: He waters the mountains from his upper chamber Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. Mark 14:12-16: The upper room On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. Arcana Coelestia #5694.4: "He waters the mountains from his chambers" In the spiritual sense, "watering the mountains" means blessing those who love the Lord and their neighbor. A "mountain" means the heavenly aspects of love. So "from his chambers" means from the deeper parts of heaven. Arcana Coelestia #3900.7: "Inner rooms" In the Bible's deeper meaning, the "inner rooms," or "secret recesses," are the parts of our religion that relate to goodness--and also goodness itself. A religion that is involved in goodness is called "the house of God," and the "inner rooms" are the different kinds of goodness in the house. "The house of God" means divine goodness, and "a house" in general means good that comes from love and kindness. Sermon: "Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." (Mark 14:14, 15) Our Gospel reading today tells of events that led up to the Lord's last supper with his disciples just before he was crucified. Since Easter was two weeks ago, it may feel as if we just hit a skip in the record, and we're doing things all over again. In truth, we simply didn't have enough time in the Sunday School schedule to get enough of the Gospel stories in before Easter, so we're continuing with three more after Easter, before we move on to the Book of Revelation. One of the happy side effects of this is that the children will learn about the resurrection of the Lord in their Sunday School classes next week, which will make up for the fact that there is no Sunday School on Easter! For the adults, who did hear about the resurrection on Easter Sunday, I have something else in mind to talk about next week, relating to the ambitious plans for the future of our church in Massachusetts that will be presented to those who attend the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Association next Sunday afternoon. However, today we will time-warp back to an event that took place on the Thursday before Easter Sunday. Though Jesus had been in the vicinity of Jerusalem all week, he did not stay the night in the city. It was too dangerous, since the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) had issued what amounted to an arrest warrant out on Jesus. He was safe in the daytime when he was among the crowds, since many of the people saw Jesus as a great prophet, if not the Messiah himself. The Jewish leaders wanted to avoid arresting him openly, since that might cause a riot, leading to a crackdown by their Roman rulers. The time to apprehend Jesus was at night, when the crowds were at home sleeping, and only Jesus' immediate followers would be with him. Jesus knew of this danger--and he had his own schedule for things to unfold in their proper timing and order. So at night, he and his disciples withdrew from the city to the Mount of Olives, which was located across the Kidron Valley. Some nights he apparently spent at the homes of friends in Bethany, a small town just beyond the Mount of Olives. Yet the place to eat the Passover was in Jerusalem. And Jesus intended to eat it there with his disciples before the Jewish leaders had a chance to arrest him. So he made arrangements to hold it in a secret place, where they would be out of sight of the Sanhedrin's hired hands. The place he chose was the large upper room of a private home in Jerusalem. The upper room. To a common person of those days, it would have had a special ring to it. Only people who were better off than average had houses with more than one floor. And since this was a _large_ upper room, it is likely that Jesus' host was among the wealthier class of people. Perhaps it was someone like Joseph of Arimathea, a rich member of the Sanhedrin who was a disciple of Jesus. Or Nicodemus, a Pharisee and also a member of the Sanhedrin, who became one of Jesus' disciples as well. Or perhaps he had other friends in high places. We'll never know, because the Gospels don't name the owner of the house. For us, removed by two thousand years from the time and the culture in which Jesus lived, that large upper room takes on a different meaning. To us it does not speak of material wealth--after all, houses with more than one floor are commonplace in our culture. Rather, it gives us a sense of _spiritual_ richness. Just as the upper room lifted Jesus and his disciples up above the level of the streets, with their hubbub of daily business and activity, so the upper room where the Lord shared his last meal on this earth with his closest disciples and spiritual companions lifts our thoughts from our ordinary, everyday affairs to higher, spiritual matters of love and wisdom, understanding and human motivation, goodness and truth. With all the rich symbolism and mystery that comes to mind when we hear where Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples, you would think Swedenborg would make a point of explaining the deeper meanings of the upper room. However, in all of Swedenborg's writings, there is not a single reference to the two verses in Mark and Luke where it is mentioned. And considering that I had already decided to preach this Sunday on "Eating in the Upper Room" before I looked up the verse in Swedenborg, that could have been a problem! But not to worry. Swedenborg explains the symbolism involved in this verse when he comments on other, similar verses elsewhere in the Bible. And though it does take a bit of piecing together from various passages, the picture that emerges is one that has rich meaning both for our individual spiritual lives and for the life of spiritual community that we call the church. Just as the Lord lifted his disciples above the commonplace level of humanity in order to share that sacred meal with them, so he seeks to raise each one of us, his present-day disciples--and the church as a whole--to a higher level of thinking, feeling and living. Whenever the Bible mentions (in a good sense) a mountain or a hill or anything lifted up above the ordinary places where people live and work, it represents a spiritual state of being closer to God. To put it in physical imagery, the sun, as the center of the solar system and the source of all warmth, light, and energy, represents the Lord; and the sky, with the sun, moon, and stars, represents heaven. The earth--and especially the plains and valleys where most people live--represents the human, material, outward world. So anything that moves away from ground level and toward the sun represents greater closeness to the Lord. The mountains, as the highest thing on earth, represent the greatest closeness to the Lord. And yet there _is_ something higher than the mountains. The sky, from which comes sunlight and warmth, clouds, rain, and even snow, is higher than the mountains. The earth--including the mountains--is fed from the sky. And so the ancients saw the sky as being the location of heaven--the home and dwelling place of God. In the beautiful and inspiring Psalm 104 we read the words, "He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work." The upper chambers referred to here are not the work of human hands; they are the rooms of the house of God in the heavens. What is it that causes us to dwell in the house of God? When do we share a meal with the Lord and with one another in that spiritual upper room? The image is so beautiful and appropriate. We know that the people we share our homes and our meals with here on earth are those we love. Yes, we share various rooms with many different people in our business life, at school, when we go shopping, and in many other situations throughout our weeks, months, and years. But these are mostly professional or casual acquaintances. Our home is special. Unless we are running a business out of our home, we share it daily only with our family members and friends. And even if we do have a home-based business, when it comes time for the evening meal, it is family, and perhaps some of our closer friends, that sit around the table with us in our dining room or kitchen. All of this points to the meaning of our house, and the rooms in it. Our house represents what we love the most. It is where we gather our treasured possessions--reminders of special people and events in our lives. It is where we return after our day at work or school is over. It is where we take off our working clothes or our business suit and slip into something relaxing and comfortable. If it is a _real_ home for us, it is where we are most comfortable, where we relax and express our true thoughts and feelings to the people who know us best, and who are closest to us. Yes, our home is the focal point of all our closest relationships. And our love for the people in our household is what makes those relationships. So it is not surprising that Swedenborg says that spiritually, houses, and the rooms in them, mean "the good that comes from love and kindness." And the upper, or inner rooms of a house relate to the higher and deeper loves in us. The very closest relationships that we can have with others are on a spiritual level. The people we are the closest to are the ones with whom we can share our faith, our love for God, our love for serving others in a deeper, more personal and spiritual way. These are the people we share our spiritual meals with. This is why I find it so beautiful and powerful that Jesus chose to eat his last supper with his disciples in the upper room. It gives a model for us to follow when we seek to build our spiritual family into a church that truly reflects the Lord's will for his church on earth. Yes, Jesus spent time out in the streets with the people, making his way through the crowds, teaching out in the fields, in the public squares of towns and cities, and in the temple itself. But for those who believed in him and chose to follow him, he built the church up on the mountain sides and in the homes and upper rooms of those he loved. And he is telling us by this that what truly builds a church is the special, deep love we share with one another, and with all who will open up their hearts to the Lord and the church. This, I believe, is a special challenge to those of us who call ourselves by the name of the New Jerusalem. As I look back on the history of our church--and here I am talking about the overall New Church, or Swedenborgian movement--what strikes me is that throughout most of our history we have had a rather intellectual air about us. That is not surprising, given Swedenborg's powerful intellect and the level of mental concentration and depth of thought required to make it very far into the teachings of our church. However, that very intellectualism has tended to limit us to the few, keeping us small. Yet the basic teachings of our church are very simple. Anyone can understand them. And the center of them all is the love of God. Wisdom and knowledge--which we also value very highly--are simply a means of expressing love. Without a love for God and a love for our fellow human beings, all the spiritual learning and knowledge in the world means nothing, because it is separated from its life and its reason for existence. So the challenge of the upper room, for each one of us individually and for all of us together as a church community, is to do everything we do because we truly love the Lord and truly love one another. If we are to be a spiritual family that shares its meals together in that upper room of closeness to the Lord, we must do it, not on the basis of our superior understanding of spiritual principles, but on the basis of a heartfelt desire to use what we know in showing love to one another and to everyone we see each day. We can show that love in many ways. As we go about our jobs and our daily work, we can show love by doing our best job, and providing the best service to the people we come in contact with each day--and doing it because we truly care about people want to serve them, and not just for the paycheck. In our homes, we can show love by the help and support we give to our family members and friends, by a kind and encouraging word here, a helping hand there. In our closest connections with family, friends, and the people of our church, we can show our deeper love as we share in one another's joy and pain, triumph and tragedy, loss and new beginnings. Together we can commune with the Lord, opening our minds to the spiritual guidance that comes from the Bible and from the teachings of our church, opening our hearts to the powerful love of the Lord, and expressing that love to others. Yes, the church is far more than a collection of teachings that we are to learn and obey. The church is truly a gathering of souls who have dedicated their lives to love. The church is a continual meal with the Lord and with one another, sharing our thoughts and feelings, supporting one another, feeding each other with the bread of life. And though we have communion only a few days a year--and today is not one of them--it somehow seems appropriate that each week we share fellowship and refreshments with one another after our service of worship is over. Because as ordinary as it may seem, every time we share food together, we are eating in the upper room of God's love and wisdom. And it is this spirit that we carry with us from this place, and share with others throughout the week. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Tue May 8 22:36:15 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 18:36:15 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Proclaim the Good News!" by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010508183501.02281100@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Proclaim the Good News! By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 6, 2001 Readings: Isaiah 61:1-4: The spirit of the Lord is upon me The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Mark 16:15-20: Proclaim the good news to all creation! Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Arcana Coelestia #9925.2: Proclaiming the good news Proclaiming the good news [gospel] means everything in the Bible that has to do with the Lord, and everything in worship that represents him. For proclaiming the good news involves declaring the truth about the Lord, his coming, and the things that come from him--which have to do with salvation and eternal life. Sermon: Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to all creation." (Mark 16:15) The world has never been the same since Jesus gave this parting commandment to the eleven disciples who remained after his resurrection. Slowly at first, then with gathering strength and speed, Christianity spread, caught fire, and eventually came to be the primary religion of the Western world. And it all started from eleven people who were commissioned by the Lord to go out and proclaim the good news to all creation! The Lord's life on this earth was the turning point of human history. Before that time, we had been going progressively downhill morally and spiritually, until most of human existence involved merely striving for material possessions and grasping for power over others through violence and oppression. Since that time, although there have certainly been plenty of ups and downs, the general level of humanity has been rising. Without the life, death, resurrection, and continuing work of the Lord, this would not have been possible. We would have continued our downward spiral toward self-destruction. But the Lord gave new life, new home, and new truth to a world sorely in need of it--and the rest, as they say, is history. Today we are living in times that are not quite equal in terms of the vast spiritual changes brought about by the Lord's first coming on this earth; however, these times certainly run a close second. From our perspective, that is because we are now living at the time of the Lord's second coming. This, we believe, is not a literal, flesh and blood coming like the first one, but rather a coming "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23, 24). At the time of the Lord's first coming, his disciples--and a number of other followers, both women and men--heeded his parting commandment, and went out to proclaim the good news to all the people of the then-known world. This became known as "evangelization," from a Greek word that means "to bring good news." Our word "gospel" means the same thing: "good news." So there is nothing mysterious or fanatical about "evangelization" and "preaching the Gospel." They simply mean proclaiming to people in words and actions the good news about the Lord, his teachings, and his saving power. If we are now living in the time of the Lord's second coming, it would make sense that there would once again be good news to proclaim to the people. Earlier generations of New Church people had a name for the new perspective on Christianity offered in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. They called it "The New Evangel." And they saw it as their task to spread these wonderful new truths to as wide an audience as possible. They did this in various ways. One of the popular ways was to tour various cities and towns giving public lectures on New Church teachings. These were often quite well attended, both by potential converts and by the local religious establishment, which was bent on crushing the "Swedenborgian heresy" before it could take root in their fair city. The result was often a fascinating exchange of ideas, the old Christianity squaring off against the new. I am particularly fond of the classic lectures given by the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Bayley in Brighton, England in 1858-59. In fact, I am so enamored of these lectures that I have scanned them all, and so far have gotten the first three online at my web site (www.leewoof.org). Aside from the high quality of the lectures themselves, what makes these lectures really shine is that a shorthand stenographer was present, and not only are the lectures themselves captured for posterity, but also the question and answer period afterwards. This gives us a snapshot of the sort of public debates that went on in the first century of our church regarding New Church doctrine. Of course, the other way that New Church people evangelized was to write, write, write, write! I suspect Swedenborgians have more literature per capita that just about any other religious movement. And the New Church people of earlier times could be quite broad in their outreach. Many of them adopted the stratagem of not mentioning Swedenborg in their books and articles so that thinking people of any church background could feel comfortable reading them. I believe this did a great deal to leaven the loaf of popular religious thought in our culture. My current favorite classic Swedenborgian author--who took this tack--is T.S. Arthur (1809-1885). Including his highly popular Temperance novels, Arthur, who was a member of the New Church in Philadelphia, published some seventy-five novels, collections of short stories, and non-fiction books, not to mention a successful literary gazette, all intended to educate and elevate the population. Many thousands of copies of his books were published, so that there are still many copies of his books floating around--even though Arthur never wrote anything whose title has survived to this century in the popular mind. What is the point of all this? Our New Church ancestors found ways to spread the good word, both overtly and covertly. I believe that their efforts are partially responsible for the intellectual and spiritual climate of our culture today. In contrast to the early hostility to Swedenborgian beliefs from much of the religious public, today many of our beliefs on angels, heaven and hell, the availability of salvation to people of all religions, the deeper meanings in the Bible, the primacy of spiritual love in marriage, and a life of useful service as a spiritual practice have become widely, if not universally, accepted in our culture. Swedenborg predicted that outwardly, not much would change; but inwardly the minds of human beings, freed from their old restraints, would enter a whole new spiritual era. Now, nearly two and a half centuries later, we can clearly see the results of those changes not only in the new science and technology of our day, but in the new spiritual attitudes that are gaining more and more strength with each passing year. However, the changes in this world over those two and a half centuries didn't happen automatically. Thousands, even millions of people worked very hard to move humanity forward on various fronts. Our Swedenborgian ancestors were some of those workers, especially on the spiritual front. Now it is our turn. Through those thousands and millions of people, the Lord has been accomplishing a great work of preparation for the "New Evangel." People are seeking new spiritual knowledge as they never have been before. And though our particular version of spirituality may not be the right one for everyone at this point in human history, I am convinced that our Swedenborgian perspective, and large numbers of spiritual seekers are moving toward each other very much like the classic movie scenes in which two lovers are seen running from either side of a beautiful green meadow, longing to reach one another, and finding their fulfillment in a passionate embrace when they meet. Yes, now it is our turn. The fields for evangelization--for proclaiming the good news--are ripe for harvest. And we have more powerful tools than ever before to use in reaching out to those who are seeking the knowledge, understanding, and insight that we are blessed with in this church. Of course, there will always be resistance from those parts of the Christian world that are still stuck in the old paradigm. But the times of religious persecution and general intolerance are long behind us, and there is no longer any need to fear that our views will be rejected out of hand by those who are searching for truth. However, aside from the resistance that has often met our outreach efforts in the past, there has always been another problem for would-be New Church evangelists. Unlike Evangelical Christians, who believe that all people who do not literally accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior will spend eternity in hell, we believe that people of all religions can be saved if they believe in God and live a good life according to their particular beliefs. So where is the urgency to go out and make converts? It is true that there is not the same kind of urgency. We do not believe people will spend an eternity in hell if they do not accept the teachings of the New Church. However, there is another kind of urgency: the _spiritual_ urgency of people crying out for understanding, answers, and spiritual support in the midst of a still confusing and often disheartening world. People may not go to hell for not believing the way we do, but they are certainly traveling through many personal hells of pain, grief, loss, depression, confusion, and spiritual disorientation that they could be "saved" from if they had the deep spiritual insights offered in the teachings of our church. And so although we do not practice faith healing and snake handling, as the apostles of the New Evangel we can accomplish these miracles for people spiritually. Let's briefly look at the deeper meanings in the charge that Jesus gave to his disciples on that day of his Ascension, with some help from _Apocalypse Explained_ #706: Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. This is a passage that must be understood spiritually, or it comes out harsh and condemnatory, and not in the spirit of love that Jesus preached. The deeper meaning is that whoever is willing to listen to the spiritual message that God is extending to humanity through many channels, and is willing to _live_ according to that message, will be saved. But those who reject the spiritual message that is offered to them condemn themselves to spiritual death. What about the signs that Jesus said would accompany those who believe? * People will "drive out demons" when they restore spiritual soundness to themselves and others by overcoming faulty and self-destructive attitudes through the new spiritual truth of the New Christianity available in the deeper meaning of the Bible. * People will "speak in new tongues" when they gain brand new insights on old problems, which they never would have conceived of before. * People will "pick up snakes with their hands" when the spiritual power from within keeps them safe from the "venom" of physical and material cravings. * People will "drink deadly poison without getting hurt" when the false and destructive attitudes that come from hell, and that are still popular in some parts of our culture, lose their power because people now see their true nature from a higher light. * And finally, people "place their hands on sick people, and they get well" when they heal both themselves and others of the spiritual diseases of destructive attitudes and lifestyles through the presence of the Lord and the angels in their lives, and through the Lord's power to overcome all evil and sin. This is a sketchy list. To fill it out, I invite you to consider some of your own poisonous ideas and sick ways of thinking and acting have been neutralized and healed through the beautiful Christian teachings of our church. How has _your_ life been healed by the blessings of the Lord and the Bible, as they are more deeply understood and appreciated thanks to the new revelation given to us by the Lord through the mind and pen of Emanuel Swedenborg? Now consider how others, who struggle with the same issues that we do, may also be helped through their most difficult times by the healing balm of the teachings of the New Church. This, I believe, is sufficient motivation to get us out there, offering to others in any way we reasonably can the same spiritual blessings that the Lord has showered on us. At our Massachusetts Association meeting this afternoon, the Planning Committee will present an ambitious plan to do much more of this kind of outreach. If we decide to carry out that plan, it will redirect the main energy of our Association toward evangelization, in the best sense of the word. The time is right. By working together and directing our energy toward proclaiming the good news, I believe our small group can accomplish things just as great as those early Christian disciples did, fired by the sure knowledge that the Lord will work with us, confirming his word by the spiritual signs that accompany us. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun May 13 22:22:00 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 18:22:00 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010513182137.00d18420@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The New Jerusalem, Part 1: Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 13, 2001 Readings: Isaiah 45:18-22: There is no God apart from the Lord This is what the Lord says--he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited--he says: "I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob's descendants, 'Seek me in vain.' I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right. "Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry around idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be; present it--let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." Revelation 4: The Throne in Heaven After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white, and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." A Brief Exposition #44: There is One God: the Lord Jesus Christ There is one God, in whom there is the Divine Trinity, and he is the Lord Jesus Christ. This can be briefly illustrated in the following way: It is a certain and established truth that God is one, and his essence cannot be divided; and also that there is a Trinity. Since God is One, and his essence cannot be divided, it follows that God is one Person. And since he is one Person, the Trinity is in that Person. It is clear that this Person is the Lord Jesus Christ from the fact that he was conceived from God the Father (Luke 1:34, 35), and thus as to his soul and life itself he is God. Therefore, as he himself said, "he and the Father are one." (John 10:30). Sermon: There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:21, 22) Our regular church year is fast drawing to a close. Children's Sunday is in three more weeks, on June 3, followed a week later by our Southern Area Picnic at Blairhaven on June 10. Then we will move into the Sunday School room for a full summer schedule of informal services, with the Elmwood Church providing the services on July 22 and August 19. Yes, for the first time in many years--perhaps the first time ever--we will have services all summer! However, counting today we have three Sundays left to hold our more traditional services here in this beautiful sanctuary. We have been following the Sunday School lesson schedule, and the final three Sundays are devoted to the Book of Revelation, that strange and mysterious final book of the Bible that has been the basis of so many apocalyptic visions of future cataclysm and catastrophe that would engulf the entire earth. Of course, our view of Revelation is quite different. We see it as a book symbolic of deeper, spiritual events rather than outward material events. After all, these visions were seen by the Apostle John, not with his physical eyes, but with his spiritual eyes while he was "in the spirit" (Revelation 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10). So it stands to reason that if these events were seen in the spiritual world, John was describing spiritual events, not physical ones. In fact, we view the Book of Revelation as a prophecy of the great _inner, spiritual_ changes that are taking place in our world right now, as the Lord renews Christianity--and the entire world along with it. So Revelation has sometimes been called "The Charter of the New Church." As it turns out, the parts of Revelation that we will be looking into these three weeks very nicely point to the three essential teachings of the New Church, on the Lord, the Bible, and the life that leads to heaven. So we will end our regular church year with a three part series on the New Jerusalem, using its "Charter," the Book of Revelation, as our guide. However, though the vision of God on the throne in heaven is the inspiration for today's theme, I have chosen to focus on a text, not from the Book of Revelation, but from the Book of Isaiah. Yet it is a text that could very well have come from the New Testament, or even from the Book of Revelation itself. To repeat it once more: There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. As a way to make my main point this morning, I would like to offer a parallel passage from the New Testament, this time from Acts 4:10-12. The Apostle Peter is speaking to a group of antagonistic Jewish leaders after he and John have healed a crippled beggar: Know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Did you notice it? Through Isaiah, Jehovah God, the Creator of the universe, says that he is the one and only God, and the only Savior. And if that passage wasn't clear enough, two chapters earlier in Isaiah we read: Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord [Jehovah], and apart from me there is no Savior. (Isaiah 43:10, 11) Then the Apostles Peter and John, two of Jesus' closest disciples, declare that salvation is found in no one else but Jesus Christ. Now, does the Bible contradict itself, or are we being told plainly that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, _God himself_ come to earth to rescue us from evil and sin? If there is no God and Savior besides Jehovah God, and yet the New Testament tells us that salvation is found nowhere else but in Jesus Christ, then the answer is clear. Jesus left us in no doubt about the answer--though in his usual freedom-respecting fashion, he used language that could be interpreted differently by those who were not ready to accept him, as the Apostle Paul did, as the one in whom "all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). Speaking to the Jews who were accusing him of being "a Samaritan and demon-possessed," Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I Am." And we are told that "at this, they picked up stones to stone him. (John 8:48, 58, 59). Why did they want stone him? Because they understood perfectly his reference to Exodus 3:14, in which God responded to Moses' request to tell him his name by saying, "I Am That I Am. This is what you are to say to the children of Israel, 'I Am has sent me to you'" In saying, "Before Abraham was born, I Am," Jesus was declaring himself to be, not only the Son of God, but God himself, the eternal I Am, present on earth in human form. This belief is the very center and focus of all of the teachings of the New Jerusalem Church. As Swedenborg expresses it in _A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church_, #44, "There is one God, in whom there is the Divine Trinity, and he is the Lord Jesus Christ." All of our other teachings hinge on this one central belief in the full and absolute divinity of Jesus Christ who, as he himself said, is one with the Father (John 10:30). It may seem as if I'm a bit exercised this morning, with all this Bible-quoting. And the fact is, I am! Why? Because during the past week I've been having an email conversation with the webmaster of one of those sites run by fundamentalist Christians that claim to identify and point out the errors of various so-called "cults." I had received one complaint too many from a fellow Swedenborgian about the damaging and downright incorrect statements that appeared on this particular site's page about Swedenborgianism. Yes, they think we're a cult. I'd like to invite them to church one of these days, and see what they think! Of course, they classify anyone who doesn't agree with their particular beliefs as a cult. And we certainly qualify when it comes to disagreeing with their theology! To be fair, when I sent an long list of corrections to the Swedenborg page at this site, the webmaster did incorporate many of them into his statement of our doctrines--as he had earlier told me he would if I could point out and document incorrect statements. As a result, what is written in the "Doctrines" section now sounds much more like what we actually believe. However, the webmaster's "Comments" at the end start by saying, "This is a dangerous mystical non-Christian religion." When I read that statement, I can't help but think of the popular saying, "What part of 'no' don't you understand?" Only in this case, I would modify it to read, "What part of the statement, 'Jesus Christ is the one God of the universe' is non-Christian?" Or to use our traditional statement of faith, "What part of, 'We worship the one God, the Lord, the Savior Jesus Christ, the redeemer of the world; in whom is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit' is non-Christian?" My conversation with this person will continue, and I may yet be able to convince him that a church that worships Jesus Christ as the one and only God of the universe is, in fact, a Christian Church. However, I can tell you right now what causes so much misunderstanding of our beliefs among Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians: We do not accept the three cornerstones of their version of Christianity: A Trinity of three Persons in God, the doctrine of the Vicarious Atonement, and the doctrine that faith alone saves. It would take more time than we have this morning to demonstrate that none of these are really based on the Bible. Besides, this isn't a theological school, this is a church! For now, I will simply point out: 1. Though the Bible does speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it never calls them "Persons," but many times makes it clear that they are in _one_ divine being. 2. Though the Bible does say that Jesus came to save us for our sins, it never says that he died to pay the _penalty_ for our sins, as claimed by the Vicarious Atonement. 3. The phrase "faith alone" is used only once in the entire Bible, in James 2:24, and in that one place, it is _specifically rejected_ as saving. James writes, "You see that a person is justified by his works, and not by faith alone." Further, none of these three teachings that are now used by Fundamentalists as litmus tests of "true Christianity" was ever taught, or apparently even conceived of, until at least two centuries after Christ and his original disciples died. By that time, the Christian Church had already begun to get embroiled in various power struggles, which had a corrupting effect on its doctrine. And the teaching that "faith alone saves" never became a major part of Christian doctrine until Luther and the other Reformers broke away from the Roman Catholic Church fifteen centuries after Christ lived on earth. I say all of this, not because I particularly enjoy debating Fundamentalists and Evangelicals, but because before the genuine Christianity taught in the Bible, and highlighted in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, can stand out in the light, the errors of the old, doctrinally corrupt and non-Biblical Christianity must be cleared away like so much deadwood that has been choking the life out of the Christian Church for centuries. Are you ready to move on? I am! Let's spend our remaining time together this morning looking at the comforting, enlightening, and beautiful teachings of our church about the Lord Jesus Christ, the one God of heaven and earth. The core of our teaching about God can be summarized in two very simple statements: God is One, and God is Love. Both of these are clearly taught in the Bible, and every teaching of genuine Christianity must agree with them. The next step of belief is to understand that together with Love, God is also Wisdom (or Truth) and Action (or Creative Power). And though we can name these three attributes of God separately--Love, Wisdom, and Action--they can no more be separated in reality than can our own feelings, thoughts, and actions. All of these are infinitely one in God. Further, the love that is the very being of God is also the soul and substance of God. The wisdom or truth of God is also the structure and visible form of God. And the creative and saving action of God occurs when God's perfectly united love and wisdom flow out into the universe in general, and into human beings in particular. The analogous parts of us--created as we are in God's image--are our soul, which is our inner essence; our body, which is the way our soul shows itself; and our actions, which take place when our soul and our body work together to accomplish our goals. This, in its simplest form, is the New Church doctrine of the Trinity in Jesus Christ. The Father is the Divine Soul: the Divine Love from which everything comes. The Son is the Divine Truth: the outward expression of God's love. And the Holy Spirit is God's love and truth acting together, reaching out to us, reaching into our souls to lift us out of our worldly and self-absorbed lives to the true salvation and blessing of living abundantly from a warm and burning love for God and for our neighbor, in the brilliant light of God's truth. And the greatest beauty of the Christian Church is that God did not stay distant and aloof from us, leaving us to fend for ourselves here on earth. No, God came to us personally, to share our joys and sorrows, to struggle with all the same things we struggle with, at a far deeper level than we can ever fathom, and to be with us as our Master, our Savior, and our Friend forever. Yes, we can know God and have a loving, personal relationship with God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--in the one Divine Human Person of Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the same powerful God who reigns supreme on the spiritual throne of heaven. Amen. From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon May 21 04:15:27 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 00:15:27 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "The Book Unsealed," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010521001409.0234b100@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The New Jerusalem, Part 2: The Book Unsealed By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 20, 2001 Readings: Isaiah 29:9-14 A sealed scroll for blinded readers Be stunned and amazed; blind yourselves and be sightless. Be drunk, but not from wine; stagger, but not from beer. The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep. He has sealed your eyes, you prophets; he has covered your heads, you seers. For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I can't; it is sealed." Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I don't know how to read." The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by human beings. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish." Revelation 5:1-10 The scroll and the Lamb Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you bought us for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and we will reign on the earth." The Heavenly City #252-254 The Bible: a divine revelation Since the Bible is a divine revelation, every single part of it is divine. Anything that comes from the divine could be no other way. Everything that comes from the divine goes down through the heavens all the way to people on earth. In heaven it is adapted to the wisdom of the angels there, and on earth it is adapted to the understanding of the people there. So the Bible has an inner, spiritual meaning for angels and an outer, material-level meaning for people on earth. That is why our connection to heaven happens through the Bible. The Bible's real meaning can be understood only by people who are enlightened. And only people who love and believe in the Lord are enlightened, since their deeper parts are lifted up into heaven's light by the Lord. We can understand the Bible's literal meaning only if we have a religious philosophy that an enlightened person has obtained from the Bible. The literal meaning is adapted to people's understanding--even the understanding of simple-minded people. So we need a religious philosophy from the Bible to give us light. Sermon Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" (Revelation 5:1, 2) Much of the Book of Revelation is concerned with judgment. Those who have turned away from God are judged for hell, and those who have followed God are judged for heaven. Chapter four, which we read last week, and chapter five, from which we read today, set the stage for that judgment. In chapter four, we are given a vision of the Lord God sitting on a throne in heaven, presented as a great King who will also become the Judge of all. Chapter five focuses on the book, or scroll, with seven seals. In the following chapters, as each seal is broken, one figure and event after another emerges as part of this great judgment. Next to the divine figure on the throne, the judgment centers on the sealed book, which is a clear symbol of the Word of God, from which all truth and all judgment comes. This morning we will take a closer look at the Word of God as we continue our three part series on the essential teachings of the New Church. The fact that the Word of God was sealed up was not new. Back in Old Testament times, the prophet Isaiah referred to his own vision--which is part of the Word of God--as "nothing but words sealed in a scroll." And he went on to tell us how people could not read that scroll, either because it was sealed, or because they did not have the ability to read. Now obviously, the words describing Isaiah's vision were available to read; it is very unlikely that they were kept literally sealed up so that no one could read them. No, Isaiah was talking about the seal that is placed on the Word of God in the minds of people who cannot understand spiritual truth because they do not want to listen to it nor obey it, because they do not love it. "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips," the Lord says through Isaiah, "but their hearts are far from me." This is a critical issue to understand about the Word of God. Some have complained that the Bible is not written in plain language; that it is hard to understand. Why doesn't the Bible just tell us plainly what we are supposed to believe and do? The fact is that the Bible _does_ teach us plainly what we are supposed to believe and do. But if we are not interested in living in the Lord's way, we will not see or understand these things even when they are right in front of us, plainly visible. Further, if the Bible consisted entirely of plain teachings about the Lord's love and wisdom, and how we should live unselfish, spiritual lives devoted entirely to the service of the Lord and our fellow human beings, most of us, as we start out in life, would never read it in the first place. We would see it as impractical, unrealistic, ethereal--and probably very boring. So the Bible reaches out to us right where we are in vivid, concrete stories that we will read and hear, and that will stick in our minds. Adam and Eve. Noah and the ark. Moses and the burning bush. David and Goliath. Jonah and the whale. These are simple, unforgettable tales that have become a part of the consciousness of our society. And yet, when we start examining the Bible stories closely, we find many parts that we don't understand, or that seem to contradict other parts. The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and yet we read of God commanding the slaughter of whole cities, sometimes even the women and children, and even the livestock! The Ten Commandments say that God "visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him" (Exodus 20:5), and yet in Ezekiel, the Bible states with crystal clarity that "the soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son" (Ezekiel 18:20). As we encounter these and many other conundrums found in the Bible, the simple trust in the Bible as God's teacher of truth that we may have developed as children if we were brought up in the church gives way to many questions that we must struggle with if we are to continue to accept the Bible as God's Word in our adult lives. And in fact, millions of people have abandoned the Bible and the Christian Church, not because they are evil, ungodly people, but because they simply can't reconcile many of the teachings and stories of the Bible--not to mention the use that some Christians make of its teachings--with a decent, humane life of respect for all the people of this earth. To continue the saga of the Evangelical "cult site" from last week, I was brave or foolhardy enough to send the webmaster of that site a link to the online version of last week's sermon. In that sermon I mentioned our exchange, and went on to assert the non-Biblical nature of some of the teachings he espoused, and the Biblical basis of New Church teachings. And to give credit where credit was due, he actually did follow the link and read most of the sermon. Needless to say, he didn't like it very much! And he sent me a message saying just _why_ he didn't like it. Among other things, he brought up a common charge brought against us by Fundamentalists and Evangelicals. Though he didn't state it exactly this way, the charge is that by following Swedenborg's teachings, we "add" to the Bible in a way that is forbidden in the final verses of Revelation, and that these "additions" invalidate our teachings because they are not based on the Bible. Naturally, I couldn't resist replying. And on this issue, I pointed out to him that the doctrines he was teaching as "essential to Christianity" were also taught by particular human beings at particular times in the history of Christianity. We can trace their origins back to a time before which they do not appear in the Christian literature, or appear only as rather vague foreshadowings of the doctrine that was later stated more specifically. In particular, this is true of the Trinity of Persons in God, which was first stated as a required belief for all Christians in the creed produced by the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. This Council was called by the emperor Constantine in order to form a faith that would become the state religion of the Roman Empire. So the division of God into three Persons was done as part of an effort to make Christianity serve the worldly use of empire-building. From that human-derived doctrine flowed all the later corruptions of Christian belief. What does this have to do with the New Church view of the Word of God--which is the second essential teaching of our church? Simply this: those who are looking to the Bible in order to justify their own evil actions, driven by a desire for power and worldly wealth, will not see any of the truth in the Word of God, but will instead corrupt even the truth that is plainly visible in the literal meaning into false teachings that support their motives and actions. Our eyes are opened to the true meaning of God's Word only to the extent that we go to the Bible because we want the truth for its own sake, and to use it in correcting our own lives so that we can become better, more loving, and more Christ-like people. Now, I am not accusing everyone who holds to false doctrines, and attributes these doctrines to the Bible, of being greedy and power-hungry. I suspect that the webmaster I am conversing with is a decent human being who truly believes he is supporting and defending genuine Biblical Christianity. Once false teachings become popular, and widely taught and accepted, they take on a life of their own. Many good and sincere people will adopt them and even defend them, believing they are serving God and following God's Word. We, too, believe in the Bible as God's Word. And however much we may disagree with the teachings of many so-called "Bible-based Christians," we at least have to give them credit for their willingness to stand up for what they believe the Lord teaches through the Bible. Our shared devotion to the Bible is one link we have with them. Still, however much they may think they are simply following the plain teachings of the Bible, their view of the Bible is only as clear as the doctrines, or religious philosophy, with which they approach the Bible. And whether or not they know which human theologians and creeds these doctrines came from, everything they read in the Bible will tend to support in their mind the truth of their own particular religious tradition. This is why Swedenborg says, in our reading from _The Heavenly City_, that "we can understand the Bible's literal meaning only if we have a religious philosophy that an enlightened person has obtained from the Bible." Of course, for us, the primary "enlightened person" that we turn to is Emanuel Swedenborg himself. Evangelical Christians, if they go to the roots of their faith, must turn to various teachers and theologians in their tradition, sometimes going back to early Protestant theologians such as Luther and Calvin. And their understanding of the Bible is only as good as the doctrines these teachers and theologians have handed down to them. All of this is in accord with the New Church view of the Bible. We do not see the Bible as some sort of a mechanical drawing--a blueprint of sorts in which we simply have to accurately follow the angles and dimensions given and we will come up with a building that matches the designer's original specifications. Instead, the Bible, as the Word of God, is a living means of communication between God and human beings here on earth. It is where God speaks to us in a living voice through the fixed and divinely arranged words and stories on the page. It is where we can listen, each at our own level and from our own needs. The Bible does not say the same thing to every person who reads it because each person who reads it is in a different state of mind and heart, and needs a different part of the message in order to take the next steps. One person may be caught up in all sorts of illegal and destructive behavior, and need a strongly worded command to repent or be punished. Another may be caught in the throes of depression and despair, and need comforting words of encouragement, and the assurance of God's eternal love and compassion. Another may be spiritually thirsty, seeking answers to deep and mystifying questions, and need the crystal clarity of teachings that shine through from the inner, spiritual truth of the Bible. The Bible speaks to us in all of our states of mind, from the lowest and most corrupt to the highest and most sublime. For those who are scraping the bottom of life's barrel, the Bible speaks in tough, hard-hitting language and stories, in which the deeper love of God is sometimes so deeply hidden that God appears to be angry and wrathful, instead of being pure love. For those who have progressed well along on the spiritual path, so that their hearts and minds are open to the thoughts of the angels, the Bible becomes a book in which the literal meaning is almost transparent, the deeper love and wisdom of God showing through everywhere--even in places where other people see only death and destruction. Yes, the Bible is God's Word because through it the Lord speaks to us at every stage of our lives, and in every state of mind and heart. For those just starting out who need plain, simple truths, the plain literal meaning of the Bible has everything necessary to find salvation through faith in God and living according to God's commandments. For those farther along the spiritual path, the Lord has, in our times, opened up the deeper meanings in the Bible through the "correspondences," or living symbolism, taught in Swedenborg's writings. Does this "add" to the Bible? No. It simply opens up what was already there. To use a memorable image from _True Christian Religion_ #192, the Bible is like a "chest made of jasper, lapis lazuli, amianthus (also called mica), or agate, but containing rows of diamonds, rubies, sardonyxes, oriental topazes, and so on." The literal sense is the chest, which is quite beautiful with its semi-precious stones, and which also protects its more precious contents. The wonderful promise of the New Church is that if we love and believe in the Lord, and go to the Bible to learn how to live as the Lord wants us to, we will be able to open up that treasure chest, and find spiritual riches beyond anything we have ever imagined. Amen. From leewoof@mediaone.net Wed May 30 13:34:24 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 09:34:24 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "According to What We have Done," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010530093408.0233ad60@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Dear Sermon Service Subscriber, I hope you are enjoying the sermons from the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. Our regular church year is now coming to a close. We will be going to a full schedule of summer informal services. On the Sundays that I preach, my sermons will be preached extemporaneously, and not written out. Others who preach during the summer may or may not provide written sermons. So this will be the last regular weekly sermon mailing until September. Meanwhile, if you would like to read past sermons that you may have missed, please visit my sermon site at www.leewoof.org. Have a wonderful summer, and if you visit the Boston area, please do stop by for a Sunday service! Love, --Lee The New Jerusalem, Part 3: According to What We have Done By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 27, 2001 Readings: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 21-32: The soul that sins will die The word of the Lord came to me: "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son--both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. . . . "If a wicked person turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offences he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? "But if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die. "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considers all the offences he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offences; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offences you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!" Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1-4 The New Jerusalem Then I saw a great white throne and the one who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with people, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Sermon: And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12) This morning, on our last regular service before Children's Sunday and our summer informal services, we will conclude our three part series on The New Jerusalem with a somewhat briefer look at spiritual living, and how we are "saved." And as we have done for the last two weeks, we will put the teachings of our church on this subject in contrast to the teachings of traditional Christianity--especially those of the Evangelical wing of Protestantism. In this area, the teachings of the Catholic Church are actually closer to ours than Protestant teachings, since the Catholic Church has always taught that it is not only necessary to have faith in the Lord in order to be saved, but also to live a good life. Unfortunately, for several centuries before the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church had a somewhat mechanical view of what it means to do the good works that are part of living a life that leads to heaven. They began to act as if we could "buy" our way into heaven through certain ritualistic "good works" prescribed by a priest--and by making large monetary contributions to the church in return for a priestly forgiveness of sins. It was largely in response to this kind of corruption in the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages that Protestant Reformers such as Luther and Calvin came up with the idea that faith alone saves. As I mentioned in my sermon two weeks ago, this idea is specifically denied in the Bible. However, the Reformers needed a distinct doctrinal break with Rome. The doctrine of faith alone provided that doctrinal break, while tearing down the false idea that we can buy our way into heaven. The doctrinal term for buying our way into heaven is "meriting" heaven. You see, the idea had grown up in the Christian Church that if we just did enough of the good works that the church teaches us to do, those good works would counterbalance our sins. It was very much like piling more weights one side of a balance beam type scale than on the other. If we had committed, say, a dozen sins, then we needed to do at least a baker's dozen of good works in order to tip the balance toward heaven instead of toward hell. However, though the Bible does reject faith alone, it also teaches us very clearly that salvation is a pure gift of God, and is not given to us in return for anything we have done. For example, Paul says: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) And in another place: God has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. (2 Timothy 1:9) Jesus also teaches us that we do not "merit," or deserve heaven because of the good things we do in obedience to God. He says: Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would you say to the servant when he comes in from the field, "Come along now and sit down to eat"? Would you not say instead, "Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink"? Would you thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, "We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty." (Luke 17:7-10) We are servants of the Lord. And when we have done everything the Lord tells us to do, we do not deserve heaven for what we have done any more than anyone deserves special recognition simply for doing their job. Heaven is not anything we can buy through our efforts. It is a gift from the Lord, given to us simply because the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy. This leaves us with a bit of a conundrum. In Revelation, where it describes the judgment, doesn't it say, "The dead were judged according to what they had done"? Yes. In fact, the Apostle Paul, who is so often misquoted as teaching that faith alone saves, not once but three times says the same thing: that we are judged and justified according to what we have done (Romans 2:8, 3:15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). So if heaven and salvation are a pure gift of God, how can we be judged for heaven or hell according to what we have done? To get past this conundrum, it first helps to know that there are at least three reasons to do good works that have nothing to do with deserving and wanting to be rewarded with heaven: Because God commands us to do them (from obedience) Because it is the right thing to do (from understanding) Because through them, we show God's love to others (from love) If we do good works--or good actions--simply because God tells us to, we're not thinking of reward; we are thinking of doing what pleases God. If we do what is good because we know it is the right thing to do, and that life goes better for everyone that way, we also are not thinking of buying our way into heaven. And especially if we do good things for people because we love the people around us and love to do the Lord's work in serving them, we actually become sad if people think we are doing these things just to get something in return. The fact is, as long as we are thinking about getting a reward for the good things we do, we can never truly enjoy doing them. It is like getting a job just for the money, when we really don't like the kind of work we have to do in that job. Oh, we'll struggle through the week and do our duty, but it really will be a struggle. The whole time, we'll be counting the days and the hours until Friday comes around so that we can get our paycheck, go home, and not have to work for a couple of days. It is the very same way if the "good works" we do are motivated entirely by a desire to get into heaven. If all we're thinking about is all the heavenly bliss we're going to have after we die, then we're not enjoying ourselves _right now_, as we do our good deeds for others. And the irony is that this kind of "good deeds" _doesn't_ get us into heaven. Why? Because when we are doing them, we're not thinking about how we can make others happy, but how we can make ourselves happy. We're not acting from love for our neighbor, but from love for ourselves, because all we're thinking about is how we can get ourselves into heaven so that we'll be eternally happy sitting on those clouds and strumming those harps! Perhaps when we first start out as Christians, we may be motivated to do good things for others because we hope to get into heaven. But before long, we need to move past that "baby Christian" stage and start doing good things for others simply because the Lord commands us to, because we know it is the right thing to do, and more and more because we truly _love_ the people around us, and want to do whatever we can to make them happy. When we get to that stage, we hardly even think about whether we'll get into heaven or not. More and more, we are experiencing heaven _right here and right now_. We no longer drag through our daily tasks. Instead, we find a joy even in simple, repetitive tasks, because we are thinking of the people whose lives will be made a little happier and a little more comfortable because we have done them. Yes, the paycheck is nice--and we do need it to get along in this world. But if we are doing "good works" in the true spirit of heaven, we would continue to do our daily tasks even if we were independently wealthy and did not have to worry about money for food, clothes, housing, and so on. In fact, if we were prevented from doing things to serve others, we would feel that life was not worth living. It may seem as if we've gone off on a side track from the original question about how good works could be necessary to salvation when heaven and salvation are a pure gift from the Lord, given to us out of love. But really, we have stayed right on track. Because our good deeds are not something we do so that we will deserve heaven. Instead, our good deeds are an integral part of _being_ in heaven. The greatest reality in heaven is also the central reality of God: love. And love, as Swedenborg says, is wanting to make others happy, and feeling their joy as joy in ourselves (_Divine Love and Wisdom_ #47). Serving others by doing good things for them is a necessary part of heaven because that is the only way we can truly feel heaven's joy. If we do not show our faith in the Lord through doing good deeds for others as the Lord commands us to do, we cannot be saved because we have rejected from our lives what makes heaven and salvation within us. We have rejected God's love because we have refused to show that love to others. Do we need faith to be saved? Yes! It is only by turning to God and recognizing that everything good and true comes from God that we open ourselves up to the source of all goodness, truth, and joy. Do we need to do good works to be saved? Yes! Not only does God command us to do good works, but it is when we are serving others because we love them that the love of heaven truly takes up residence in our souls. Are we saved by our faith and works? No! We are saved _by the love of the Lord_. Then why do we need to have faith and do good works? Because the Lord is standing at the door of our lives and knocking, and it is only when we believe in the Lord and follow his commandments that we open that door so that he can come in, and dwell in our souls. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Tue Jun 19 17:26:57 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 13:26:57 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] Seeing Evil from the Lord's Perspective Message-ID: <200106191327_MC3-D657-1CE3@compuserve.com> Seeing Evil from the Lord's Perspective By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell June 17, 2001 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Revelation 8:7-9 The word, "apocalypse" has become synonymous with a massively destructive event. This is far from it's original meaning. In ancient Greek the word meant to disclose, hence the more common title of the final book of the New Testament, "Revelation." It isn't hard to understand why this final book of the Bible has given the word "apocalypse" such a connotation. In it we read of the destruction when the seven seals are opened, destruction when the seven trumpets are sounded, and destruction when the seven last plagues are poured out. We read of numerous evil and threatening beasts. We read of tremendous suffering and of tremendous warfare. If this is all we focus on then it is no wonder that most people would think of an apocalyptic event as something to be avoided. To change this impression, consider a simple example. You are planning to buy a used car. You spot one on the car lot that is exactly the color you love best. It has the features you want and more. It looks clean and well cared for, the mileage is low, and the price seems quite reasonable. You are tempted to buy it on the spot. It looks perfect. But instead you take it to a trusted mechanic. He looks the car over and regretfully presents you with a list of major problems. The car has been in a major accident and there will be multiple problems that this will bring as soon as you drive it very far. The engine, though clean looking, has been very poorly maintained and ill-used. Major future repairs loom on the horizon. He suspects that one reason the car looks so good is that it was just painted and close inspection indicates that there are rust problems that will show up within months. Finally he has been able to establish that the odometer has been turned back and it has more than twice the miles on it than you had been lead to believe. Having heard the mechanic's report would you still look at the car with the same eyes that you had on before? Of course not. His report would have been an apocalyptic event in the original meaning of the word. He would have revealed to you many things that you had not seen or recognized by yourself. Now imagine someone who had this very experience and his primary reaction was to be resentful of the mechanic for giving the report he did. Wouldn't it be strange to think of him as nasty fellow for saying all those bad things about the car? The Lord has far more important things to shed light on for us than the value of this or that used car. He wants us to recognize that there are issues that we face in our daily lives whose consequences are eternal. He compassionately understands that there are many issues in life that we do not see clearly. We inevitably focus on certain external features of a situation, like the initial impression of the used car, and make our decisions based on that flawed perspective. Imagine if you were as skilled at looking at used cars as the mechanic and a friend was showing off her newly bought car--which has all the problems of the one I just described. Wouldn't you feel a strong sadness at the contrast between the woman's pride and joy in the car and the reality of what she had purchased? Perhaps you might not point out all the problems you see, but instead acknowledge the pretty color and clean appearance. You might gently prepare her for some of the mechanical difficulties she will soon face. As she did indeed face them, you might offer to give her an opinion on the next car she considered before she purchased it. Over and over again the Lord sees us inclining to and making decisions that aren't good for us or those people that our lives touch. He can feel a sadness at the consequences inevitably coming from these decisions. This is described in the following passage from the Apocalypse Revealed. And cried with a great voice, as a lion roars, means [the Lord's] agonizing sadness that the church has been taken away from Him . . . especially from His not being acknowledged and approached, although He is the God of heaven and earth. Lamentation concerning these things is signified by "His roaring as a lion," for a lion roars when he sees his enemies and is assaulted by them, and when he sees his cubs and food taken away; so does the Lord, comparatively, when He sees His church taken away from Him by devils. Apocalypse Revealed 471 It is the Lord's great desire that we recognize the reality of our own strengths and weakness and of the situations that lie before us. He would reveal or shed light on their qualities so that we can make good decisions. He will not, however, make us see things in the light of heaven if we do not want to see them. Instead the Lord offers us the possibility of light. We can gain this light by learning from the Lord through His Word and by prayerfully seeking that His wisdom guide our choices. He has given us a fundamental definition of how life really works. He taught His disciples and He teaches us: I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:5-12) The sacrament of the Holy Supper is a symbol of our desire that we abide in the Lord and He in us. It is a symbol of our desire to receive His help in living more fruitful lives. In a very real sense taking the bread and wine of the Holy Supper invites the Lord to bring apocalyptic events to our lives, not in the sense of massive destruction, but in the sense of revealing things to us as they really are. Because only then can we make truly wise decisions. It is a regular and fundamental part of the message of the New Church though that the light of heaven cannot be shed on our minds through intellectual means alone. It will not come solely from diligent study. The Lord told His disciples and He tells us: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32) The Lord wants us to know that we will not see in the light of heaven unless we are consciously making efforts to abide in His word or to live according to what He has taught us. This does not come easily to us. There is a part of us that wants to trust our own first impressions. It prefers to react according to our inherited nature even though this is as desirable as buying a nice appearing but terribly flawed used car. The Lord invites us to seek His help in becoming better human beings. He has given us His Word and invites us to read it with care and reflection. He invites us to habits of daily prayer. He tells us of the importance of a periodic careful review of the general patterns and tenor of our lives. He wants us to pay attention to the pattern of consequences that our behavior has been producing. He invites us to ask for the apocalyptic insights that only He can provide. And He calls us to consciously and diligently shun the evil motivations and actions that we have recognized in His light. All the apparent destruction wrought in the Apocalypse is nothing caused by the Lord no more than the mechanic's analysis of the faulty used car changed it intrinsically in any way. The destruction described in its pages is an image of revelation of the true qualities of apparently healthy and attractive, but actually harmful and deformed realities. This book describes in symbolic language the work of a perfectly loving God. It describes His efforts to lead us. May we pray to see and live in His light. AMEN. Lessons: Revelation 8:2, 6-11 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, signifies revelation from the Lord concerning the state of the church upon earth, the qualities of its love and faith. "A sign in heaven" signifies revelation from the Lord concerning heaven and the church and of their state. "Great," in the Word, is said of such things as are of affection and love, and "marvelous," of such things as are of thought and of faith. Seven angels having the seven last plagues, mean the evil loves and false ideas in the people of the church, such as exists in its last state and that they are universally disclosed by the Lord. "Seven angels" means the entire heaven. but as heaven is not heaven from anything proper to the angels, but from the Lord, therefore by "seven angels" also means the Lord, nor can any other disclose the evil loves and false ideas which are in the church. "Plagues" mean evils and falsities, evils of love and falsities of faith. For they are those which are described in the next chapter, and are meant by "evil and noxious sores," by "the blood as it were of one dead, whereby every living soul died," and by "the blood into which the waters of the rivers and fountains were turned," by "the scorching of fire which afflicted people," by "the unclean spirits like frogs, which were demons," and by "great hail." The evil loves and false ideas which are signified by all these things, are here meant by "plagues"; by "the last plagues" are signified the same in the last state of the church. "Plagues" signify spiritual plagues, which affect people as to their souls, and destroy them. These spiritual plagues are evils loves and false ideas. Apocalypse Revealed 656, 657 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible, are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Tue Jun 19 17:26:53 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 13:26:53 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] Sermon: The Church Militant: In What Ways are We to Fight? Message-ID: <200106191327_MC3-D657-1CE2@compuserve.com> The Church Militant: In What Ways are We to Fight? June 10, 2001 by the Rev. Eric H. Carswell They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not life up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4) Swords and spears are for fighting. Plowshares or hoes and pruning hooks are for growing food. The literal promise of the text is that someday the swords and spears will be transformed from weapons of destruction into constructive farm implements. In its spiritual sense, what is the meaning of this prophecy? How can we help fulfill its promise? Consider what sort of fighting we might picture doing as members of the New Church. Sometimes it may seem very appealing to picture our church group as a small isolated band of warriors for the Lord surrounded by myriads of people who are enemies to our cause. We could thrill at the image of a ceaseless battle against the encroaching forces of evil from the world. We could see our church group as a church militant, fighting the rest of the world, and we would be the force of good like Michael and his angels against the dragon. These perspectives on ourselves and our appropriate relationship to most people are false and potentially dangerous. In the Writings for the New Church, the Lord does use the term, church militant, and He certainly speaks of truth fighting against false ideas and good fighting against evil. But we can also know that we are not justified in using these ideas to attribute goodness or absolute superiority to ourselves, nor can we use them to make the world at large the enemy. Consistently when the Writings speak of a "church militant," they refer to the individual battle of each person against evil loves and false ideas in his or her own mind. Each of us must enter into this spiritual battle and we are to give no mercy to our foe. Just as the Lord told the children of Israel as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan that the conquered cities and their inhabitants were to be utterly destroyed, so must we ruthlessly seek out the influence of evil on our thoughts and acts. The children of Israel were told, ". . . you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive." (Deuteronomy 20:16) We read in the book of Joshua that when the Israelites conquered the city of Jericho, "they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword." (Joshua 6:21) While the literal sense of this statement is horrible to consider, its internal sense speaks directly to the reality of our spiritual combats. Once an individual has recognized by self examination one or two evil loves that have expressed themselves in his thoughts and acts, he should seek to reject all forms that those specific evil love and false ideas take in his life. We need have no pity for the spiritual offspring of these evil loves and false ideas as we might have for the children of an enemy country in this world. None of these spiritual offspring are innocent. We cannot enter more fully into the Lord's church than we have already unless we are willing to fight against what we know to be from hell within ourselves. If we sincerely seek the Lord's aid, victory in our battles is assured. No foe is too great for those who have the Lord on their side. Certainly we know, with at least a part of our mind, that the most important battles we face are those within our own minds. But is there a sense in which the New Church with us is to be a church militant against people and institutions around us? Are we to fight with our sword of truth against the evil loves and false ideas we see in others around ourselves? The answer seems to be a qualified, "Yes." Yes, we are supposed to make moral judgments on the behavior of others but not their intentions. The Lord's command to "Judge not that you be not judged" (Matt 7:1), was a command against absolute judgments on the intentions of others. We cannot know the true will of another person. This is partially why the Lord warned against trying to remove the speck of dust from someone else's eye while a beam of wood is in our own eye. We would do well to pay more attention to our own evil intentions, which block our vision of what is true, than to be overly concerned with the apparent of real misdeeds of others. The True Christian Religion comments on our inability to recognize our own shortcomings with these words: It is extraordinary how anyone can scold another intending to do evil and say to him: 'Don't do that, because it is a sin;' but he finds it very difficult to say that to himself. The reason is that saying it to oneself involves the will, but saying it to someone else merely comes from a level of thought not far removed from hearing. (True Christian Religion 535) Our most important and most difficult spiritual battles are the ones we fight in our own minds, and yet if we seek to be led by the Lord, we will not be introverted. We will not be so concerned with our own spiritual welfare that we will be blind to the evils of life and false ideas in the people around us. If we are becoming part of the Lord's New Church, we will want to spread the knowledge of what is true and good. But the question of the church militant is not so much one of should we fight evil loves and false ideas when we see them in the world as what are we trying to accomplish in our fight. We should not be fighting people. If we love what is true and good, then we will sorrow at the presence of evil and falsity in another person's life. We will sorrow because we know the misery and confusion that those false ideas have brought and will bring to that person. We will want to help lead that person to reject these false ideas and encourage him or her to fight against the motives that seem to be evil. Of course this work is really the Lord's work, but it is also a work of those who are part of the Lord's church. The Lord does not teach of lead people by direct instruction from Himself, which would remove freedom. Rather He uses the Word and instruction from it as well as the day-to-day conversations we have with each other. The Lord can use what you say to another person to help lead that person to greater happiness in this world and to heaven after death. Your words and deeds can make you a warrior for the Lord's New Church. But still we will never be fighting against people themselves, but rather we will be fighting the evil deeds and false ideas we see coming forth from them. If we truly love what is good, that is, if we truly love the Lord, in every person we will see a potential angel, and in so far as it is useful and appropriate, we will seek opportunity to help them to see the Lord and what He teaches. If we truly love what is good, we will not fight with others but will try to lead them, however firmly, to a better state. We will be zealous at times, but this zeal that appears as anger will have the quality of heaven within it, desiring life and not the destruction of hellish anger. Consider the image of a merciless soldier with a sword or spear who sees only the enemy to be destroyed. Contrast this image with the work of a farmer with a hoe or pruning hook. All the time the farmer would have in front of his eyes the good things he desires: the healthy, weed-free plants and the prolific well trimmed fruit tree. The true things that we know can be like weapons of destruction or they can be like the implements a farmer uses to provide for the health and development of his crop. With those who know what is true, there are two approaches to passing this truth on to others. The difference between these two is presented in the Arcana Caelestia in explanation of the lives of Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was the son born to Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's handmaid. He represents those who have a knowledge of what is true, but are not yet led by the desire to do what is good. He represents rational truth separated from good. The description of Ishmael in Genesis is, "He shall be a wild donkey. His hand against all." (Genesis 16:12) A person whose rational mind is solely in truth and not at the same time in charity will wage war upon whatever is not true. (Arcana Caelestia 1949:2, 1950:1) But consider what the Arcana Caelestia teaches about the quality of such a person and the nature of his warfare. We read: He is quick to find fault, makes no allowances, is against all, regards everyone as being in error, is instantly prepared to rebuke, to chasten, and to punish, shows no pity, does not apply himself and makes no effort to redirect people's thinking; for he views everything from the standpoint of truth, and nothing from the standpoint of good. In short, he is a hard man. The one thing to soften his hardness is the good of charity, for good is the soul of truth, and when good draws near and implants itself in truth the latter becomes so different that it can hardly be recognized. (Arcana Caelestia 1949:2) The warfare of someone only in truth is against other people. It is pitiless and has no consideration of the spiritual freedom of his opponent. There is no thought of patiently bending someone away from their evil acts and false ideas. This is not the sort of warrior that the Lord desires. In contrast , hear what is said about the quality that a living concern for doing what is good gives to a person's life. Rational good never fights, however it is assailed; because it is mild and gentle, patient and yielding; for its character is that of love and mercy. Yet although it does not fight, it conquers all, not does it ever think about combat, or glory on account of victory. This because it is Divine, and is safe of itself. (Arcana Caelestia 1950:2) The person who knows what is true and loves what is good does adapt himself to others and does study to bend their thoughts and deeds to what is good. Such a person is like a farmer who constant aim is nurture the development of his crop and so provide a harvest of good things. It is a part of true charity to desire to bring good and truth to other people's lives. It is a use of our church to try to accomplish this goal. But our church will do nothing apart from the actions of individual people. The gentle, patient, and yet sometimes firm bending that each of us as individuals can accomplish has a tremendous effect on those around us. Our church should not be a church of truth alone, warring against everyone, including our own members. Warfare of this kind is not what the Lord desires. As the desire to do what is good fills the life of our church, the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled. We will not use our knowledge of what is true and good as weapons of destruction, but rather as means to accomplish the Lord's work. "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not life up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4) AMEN Lessons: Isaiah 2:1-5 Revelation 12:1-9 In the Word "war" means spiritual war, which is the war of false ideas from evil loves against true ideas from good loves, and of true ideas from good loves against false ideas from evil loves. This is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Isaiah: Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:3-5; Micah 4:3). These verses speak of the Lord's coming, and that those who will be of His New Church are to be instructed in truths, by which they will be led to heaven. "The mountain of Jehovah" and "the house of Jacob" mean the church in which is love to the Lord and worship from that love; a summoning to that church, and thus to the Lord, is meant by "Many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to that mountain;" that they will be instructed in truths by which they will be led is meant by "He will teach us of His ways that we may go in His paths,". . . that they will be led by the doctrine of the good of love and by the doctrine of truth from that good, which are for the church out of heaven from the Lord, is meant by "out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word from Jerusalem," . . . that evils of life and falsities of doctrine will then be dispersed is meant by "He will judge between the nations and reprove the peoples." That by the consent of all, fighting will then cease is meant by "they shall beat their swords into hoes and their spears into pruning hooks." "Hoes" mean the good qualities of people which are cultivated by truths, for "a field that is tilled by the hoe" means the church with a person as to the good qualities of his or her life; and "pruning hooks" mean truths of doctrine, because trees in gardens mean a person's perceptions and knowledges of truths. Apocalypse Explained 734:2-3 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Jul 9 12:01:41 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2001 08:01:41 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Our Growing Future," By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010709075956.021aee50@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Dear Sermon Service subscribers, Here is a talk that I gave during the recent Swedenborgian Church Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. I also used it as the basis of my sermon in Bridgewater this past Sunday (July 8). Though it is more of a talk than a sermon, I thought you might enjoy it. Blessings, --Lee Our Growing Future By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Theme Presentation Swedenborgian Church Convention, June 28, 2001 St. Paul, Minnesota I have an important announcement to make: The Swedenborgian Church isn't weird anymore! Back in the early seventies, I had a school friend named Sheila. Now Sheila was a jock. Field hockey, basketball, baseball, track, volleyball . . . you name it, Sheila played it. But I think her favorite sport was asking me what church I belonged to. This was a team sport. She would gather up a few of her friends and bring them over to me. "What did you say was the name of your church?" she would ask. "Swedenborgian!" I would reply. She would then do a masterful job of evoking, for our listening pleasure, a sumptuous buffet table crammed full of fine food, with the faithful filing by filling their plates, and thus participating in the primary ritual of the Smorgasborgian church. Yes, we were weird--and I thought it was kind of fun to be weird! But in the back of many Swedenborgians' minds was the idea that, well, after all, Swedenborg is kind of weird in the eyes of society, and we're perhaps a little weird for believing what he taught. It used to be conventional wisdom in the church that when you're talking to new people, you wait a while--until you've piqued their interest and preferably gotten them hooked--before talking about strange things like Swedenborg going to the spiritual world and talking to angels and spirits. Otherwise you might scare them away! Today, we are living in a whole different world. Angels have major network TV programs, near death experiences have become a staple of popular movies, and practically every book store has a Religion and Spirituality section. Of course, there are still plenty of materialists and skeptics out there who think this is all an irrational craze. But there is no denying that spirituality and the afterlife have gone mainstream. And now, instead of being a bit shy about Swedenborg's spiritual world experiences, we're more apt to brag just a bit about how our guy was there _before_ it became popular! Today, millions of people are searching for what we have: a spiritual perspective that is deep, satisfying, sensible, and personal. And I believe our church is finally getting to the point where we can offer our perspective and our spiritual community to the many. Of course, we Swedenborgians have been offering people Swedenborg and the New Church for over two centuries now. Yet though our church showed signs of real growth throughout the 1800s, we did not make it far into the 1900s before we entered into the same disastrous decline that decimated the ranks of mainline Protestantism and Catholicism alike. We had a great message, but somehow it was not getting through. People were abandoning the church in droves. This led to decades of soul-searching in the church. Our standard response to the lack of popular appeal of our church tended to be, "The world isn't ready for us yet." Maybe that was true. But it isn't true anymore. The world is more than ready for us. People are searching for what we have. In recent years, we have finally turned the tables and started working on the question of whether _we_ are ready for the _world._ The earlier Swedenborgian movement tended to be a heady, intellectual affair. This appealed to many of the intellectual and financial leaders in our society; but our church never quite took hold in the popular mind. This, I believe, was because we were not fully applying to our church our own teachings about the necessity of a balance of love and truth, leading to practical acts of kindness and service. Back in the 1970s, when I was a teenager, the "conservative" vs. "liberal" struggle was still raging in our denomination. Our church was divided into warring camps that glared at one another across the aisles, and did not attend one another's parties. On a deeper level, the liberal vs. conservative conflict of a few decades ago can be seen as a struggle over whether we would remain primarily an intellectual church, or whether we would combine the powerful spiritual insights in our church with an equally powerful practice of love and compassion. I've heard it said that "the liberals won." But in my view, the result of that struggle was not really a victory for either side, but a gradually emerging synthesis of the best of both perspectives--a marriage of love and wisdom. The result is a church that is increasingly dedicated both to the truth that our teachings have to offer (which was the core value of the conservatives) _and_ to being a spiritual community devoted to loving and caring for the people in our communities (the core value of the liberals). In other words, we are finally becoming a church that begins to express the fullness of our own teachings about how a marriage of love and wisdom makes the Lord's true church. This is why I believe we are finally becoming ready to offer our church to the world. Of course, it will take time and a lot of hard work. But I believe that if we continue to move forward as we have been, and take the necessary forward steps both nationally and locally, our church will begin a period of major growth. And I believe this new growth will not be followed by a period of decline as was our growth spurt of the 1800s. The foundation we are now building is a solid one, based on the bedrock of spiritual reality. I am optimistic about the future of our church. And I would like to offer you a few thoughts from our experience at the Bridgewater Church to add some practicality to all this great theory. I'm happy to say that after a long decline similar to that in many of our churches, and in the denomination as a whole, the Bridgewater Church is now experiencing modest but definite growth. Our membership has increased by several people each of the last two years, and looks like it will do the same this year. Meanwhile, our average Sunday attendance has increased from the low twenties a couple of years ago to the low thirties now. There are several elements that have worked together to make this possible, and they can work elsewhere. In fact, they are now working in several of our other churches. One of them, of course, is good pastoral leadership. It is not easy to grow a church without a minister. And the more ministers we have who combine a knowledge of our church's teachings with perceptiveness and compassion for people--not to mention a willingness to do a lot of very intense work--the more likely we are to have growing churches. This is why I support any mode of training ministers that will move forward the ministry of our church. There can be more than one gate into our ministry, just as there is more than one gate into the Holy City. However, a church's minister (or lay leadership) is only one part of the whole picture in a growing church. Even the best minister needs to be working with a congregation that is willing to lay aside old rivalries and work together to move forward in ways that may involve leaving behind some cherished traditions and familiar ways of doing things. I believe that the most powerful way to get a church unified and moving forward is to look out into our communities and realize what a blessing our beliefs and our church family could be to many people who are searching for what we have. If we as congregations can move our focus off ourselves and our own survival, and think of how we can serve our communities in ways that uniquely express our faith in action, we _can_ break out of our old patterns and begin to build a new and growing church. Fortunately, we do not have to figure everything out all by ourselves. There are organizations and consultants out there who know how to grow a church, and who can teach us what we need to know in order to do it effectively. Yes, it will cost some money. But the results of acting with solid understanding and knowledge will be well worth the cost. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. But Jesus Christ started out with only twelve, and look what happened! If we redirect our energy, time, and money toward offering to the world the same blessings that our church has given to us, I am convinced that it will not be many decades before we will be filling our churches--and building new ones in places where there has never been a Swedenborgian Church before. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 New! We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Jul 15 17:41:25 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 13:41:25 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Our Inner Samaritan," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010715133358.00b88270@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Our Inner Samaritan By the Rev. Lee Woofenden United Methodist Church Bridgewater, Massachusetts, July 15, 2001 Readings: Amos 7:7, 8 The Plumb Line This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: the Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" "A plumb line," I replied. Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. Luke 10:25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Sermon: Jesus said, "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37) It is an honor and a pleasure to be here with you today, offering you some thoughts and, I hope, some inspiration on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Your pastor (the Rev. Janet Wallace) and I came to Bridgewater about the same time, and we have been good friends and co-workers on the Bridgewater Council of Clergy and in the Bridgewater Clergy Group ever since. I also very much appreciate the friendship and support that some of you have given to various members of the New Jerusalem Church over the years. I understand that my colleague, the Rev. Andy Stinson of the Elmwood New Church (also a Swedenborgian Church), just preached at the West Bridgewater Methodist Church a week or two ago; and now here I am preaching at the Bridgewater Methodist Church. This could be the beginnings of a Swedenborgian invasion! Really, though, you have nothing to worry about. I figure you've got far more Methodists in Southeastern Massachusetts than we've got Swedenborgians in the entire country. But seriously, it is one of the wonderful developments in Christianity today that we can feel fellowship not only with people of our own church and denomination, but with many other kinds and varieties of Christians, and even with people of other faiths. In a way, we are finally listening to what Jesus taught us in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. As many of you know, in the time of Jesus, Samaritans were despised by the Jews largely due to their religious and cultural differences. And one of the Lord's clear messages to his Jewish listeners in this parable was that we are all equal in the sight of God--Jew and Samaritan alike--and that what really counts is whether we _live_ by our faith, and show kindness and mercy to one another. Today we Christians are finally getting the point. We are finally realizing that God loves all people, whatever their background and beliefs--and that we should "go and do likewise." So our sharing with one another this morning, across denominational lines, is one of the benefits of living truly in the way Christ taught us. However, today I would like to look at the Parable of the Good Samaritan in a little different way. Instead of considering the broad implications this parable has for our ecumenical and interfaith development, I would like to explore with you some of the messages the Parable of the Good Samaritan may hold for us on a very individual, personal level. What does this parable tell us about our own spiritual life? What does it tell us about our own inner struggles and our growth as Christians? First, it helps to remember that although Jesus' story about the man who fell among thieves had characters very familiar to his listeners, and could have happened just as he described it, this was actually a parable--a story Jesus made up to carry a meaning greater than appears simply from the story line. Of course, one way to interpret the story is to treat it as a fable, in the best sense of the word. Yesterday I read through all of Aesop's Fables. These are wonderful, brief, pithy tales, many of them involving animals with human characteristics, and almost all of them having a clear moral. Who can forget "The Tortoise and the Hare," with its concluding moral, "Slow but steady wins the race." Or the boy who cried "wolf," and the inevitable destruction of his flock when the villagers did not believe him that _this_ time there really _was_ a wolf. Or the goose that laid the golden eggs, and the foolishness of its owners, who killed the goose thinking they would find a greater treasure inside. These fables--stories with both a punch line and a moral--have become a part of our every day common sense. Similarly, the parable of the Good Samaritan has worked its way into our cultural consciousness as a "fable" whose moral is that it's not those who simply _claim_ to be religious, but those who _live_ according their religion by showing uncommon kindness to others who will be considered worthy of God's kingdom. And this is a good moral to hear and heed. But let's look even deeper, and even more personally. Let's consider what this parable would mean if we think of it as Jesus speaking directly to each one of us, as a parable about our own lives. Isn't this when the Word of God comes most alive for us? The psychologist Carl Jung had a similar mode of interpreting his clients' dreams. In addition to his well-known archetypal theory of symbols in dreams--an idea he probably derived at least partly from reading Emanuel Swedenborg's Scripture interpretations--Jung focused on helping his clients to see every character and event in their dreams as applying, not to outward people or events, but to emotional and psychological events taking place within their own minds and hearts. For example, if we were to dream of our mother wagging her finger at us, chastising us for something we had done wrong, the image of our mother in the dream would not refer literally to our mother, but to the "mother" in us (perhaps internalized from our actual mother)--the part of us that "scolds" ourselves whenever we do something wrong. Or if the dream was of our mother serving us a slice of her delicious apple pie, it would refer to the part of our own spirit that gives us nurture and comfort, a sense of being loved and cared for. If we look at the Parable of the Good Samaritan in this way, we can discover that every part of it speaks directly to our own experience. And just as this parable was part of a conversation between the Lord and an expert in the Jewish religious law, so it becomes a conversation between the Lord and our devotion to _our_ religion--to being Christians. First, let's personalize the setting. The parable starts with a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Let's assume this man means us. What is our Jerusalem? This is not too hard to discover. Yes, Jerusalem was the political center of the Jewish people. But even more than that, it was their spiritual center. Now, since you are here in church today, I am going to jump to the conclusion that this church is your spiritual center. Church is the place where we churchgoers especially learn about God, the life and teachings of Jesus, the Bible, and how to live in a Christian way. This is our Jerusalem. However, we don't spend our whole lives in church. After the service is over, we go back home, and spend most of our week in our ordinary, everyday tasks: working, taking care of our homes and families, taking time off to rest and relax. Just so, the man in the parable was going down from Jerusalem--the spiritual center of the Jewish people--to Jericho--an ordinary, working-class town. Perhaps Jericho was where he lived and worked, and he was returning from religious ceremonies at the Temple. We don't know. What we do know is that somewhere along the rugged and dangerous road that covered the eighteen miles from Jerusalem to Jericho, he fell into the hands of robbers. Whatever fine experience he had in Jerusalem, it was all destroyed on his way to Jericho. Of course, very few of us fear that we will be set upon by robbers on our way home from church! But there's another way we can be robbed, right in the privacy of our own minds and hearts, as we make the transition from our Sunday mornings spent in church to our everyday lives in the world. Let's face it: it's pretty easy to feel religious and have high ideals here in church. We're singing hymns, listening to Bible readings, praying to God, hearing a sermon full of all sorts of spiritual wisdom, and enjoying fellowship with others who share our faith. The tough part is keeping that same spirit of Christian love, unity, and closeness to the Lord once we get back home. Sometimes we don't even make it home before our inner robbers get us. Let's say we're driving home from church, and some rotten so-and-so pulls right out in front of us and cuts us off. It would be nice to think that when this happens, we would smile blissfully at the person in the other car and offer up a little prayer for him or her. But I suspect that what happens more often is that a few choice words escape our lips, and only our sense of social propriety keeps us from shouting out the window and making rude gestures. Oops! Our inner robbers have gotten us! Only minutes before, we were immersed in high ideals of Christian living; and already we're feeling anger and resentment at someone who has quickly become our "enemy" by crossing our path in the wrong way. Of course, this is a fairly trivial example. Things get even harder when we get home into sometimes difficult home or work situations, and fall right back into our old patterns of dealing with the people around us--our loved ones, family members, friends, and co-workers--patterns that aren't anywhere near as Christian and idealistic as we aspire to when we're in church. Sometimes we get ambushed by our own impatience, our faulty attitudes, our frustration with our situation and the people around us, or simply by despair over whether our various struggles and emotional pains will ever get any better. And though we may have started out with good intentions for the week when we left church, we may find ourselves spiritually lying by the side of the road, beaten and bloody, with little hope left. This is where our religious beliefs should come to our rescue. We ought to be able to recite some of the verses we've learned, or recall one of those pithy spiritual teachings, and have it lift us up out of the emotional gutter we're in. Alas, in this case, both the priest and the Levite walk right by. Yes, we know Jesus loves us. We know the Golden Rule, and the Ten Commandments, and many other fine guides to spiritual living. And yet, too often these become matters of rote repetition--lifeless rules that we think of simply as things to do to prove we are Christians, and to make people think well of us. The priest and Levite in the story, like the religious lawyer who "wanted to justify himself," were religious more for outward show than for living by the inner spirit of their religion. This kind of formulaic, mechanical, self-justifying religion will not pull us out of the ditch that our own inner thieves and robbers have thrown us into. What does pull us out? In the story, it was a Samaritan. It was one of the hated and despised people who mixed Jewish religious practice in with their own semi-pagan practices, thus, in the Jews' eyes, desecrating the sacred things of the Jewish religion. And yet the Samaritan, and not the priest or the Levite, was the one who helped. We can think of our inner Samaritan as those parts of ourselves that may not be all that clear on the finer points of theology, but are determined to be kind and helpful, and do the right thing, whether or not our actions would pass muster with the theologians. The Samaritan is our simple, gut-level concern and caring for the people around us. It is our desire to treat people fairly, with respect, with thoughtfulness, and with kindness. Just when we feel that our religious beliefs are abandoning us--or we are abandoning our faith--what often picks us up and gets us back on track is noticing that there are people out there who need our help and our love. We may not be able to make fine doctrinal arguments as to exactly how we should treat particular people in particular circumstances, and why. But we know that we have a job to do. So our inner Samaritan pulls us out of that ditch of despair and self-pity, and gets us going again. As we focus on the people around us, and what we can do to make their day just a little bit better, our own troubles and worries don't seem quite so difficult and painful anymore. As we help others out of _their_ mental and emotional ditches, we find that we ourselves are gaining more and more strength. As we heal others' wounds, our own wounds are healed at the same time. And then we find that after all, our experience in Jerusalem did come with us to Jericho. As long as our religion was all in our head, we didn't get anywhere. But as soon as we open up our heart to others, and begin living by the deeper spirit of Christ's teachings, our spirit revives. Then the healing touch of the Lord's love has come into our lives, and through us into the lives of those around us. Jesus tells us, "Go and do likewise." ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Sep 9 21:36:26 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 09 Sep 2001 17:36:26 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Today is the First Day of Eternal Life", by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010909173511.02038620@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Today is the First Day of Eternal Life By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 9, 2001 Readings: Psalm 16: At God's hand are pleasures forevermore Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a delightful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to the grave, or let your faithful one see the pit. You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. John 4:31-38: The fields are already ripe for harvest Jesus' disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields! They are already ripe for harvest. The reaper is receiving wages, and harvesting the fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor." Heaven and Hell #527: Our personality remains after death I can testify from a great deal of experience that it is impossible to give heavenly life to people who have led lives opposed to it in the world. Some people have believed that they would easily accept divine truths after death when they heard them from angels, and that they would then become believers and lead different lives, so that they could be accepted into heaven. However, this has been tried with many people (though only with those who believed this), so that they could learn that there is no repentance after death. Some of them did understand true things and seemed to accept them; but the moment they turned back to the life of their own love, they rejected them and even argued against them. Some rejected them on the spot, unwilling even to listen to them. . . . These and similar experiences teach simple good people that there is no way to change anyone's life after death; no way to rewrite an evil life into a good one, or a hellish life into an angelic one. This is because the character of every spirit from head to toe is determined by his or her love, and therefore by his or her life. . . . Our character after death is determined by the quality of our life in the world. Sermon Do you not say, "Four months more and then comes the harvest?" But I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields! They are already ripe for harvest. (John 4:35) Back when I was in Junior High School, the music teacher used to like to hang inspirational posters on the walls of the music room. The only one I actually remember said, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." Probably the reason I remember it is that it has become such a commonplace saying--so commonplace that it has lost much of its force. For me, though, the music room was my first time encountering it, and it made an impression on me. The message, of course, was that whatever has happened so far in this life, a new beginning is always possible; and that new beginning can start today--right now! There is no need to be a prisoner of our past experiences and choices. Every day is a new opportunity to begin again. Each day we can make the choice to start a new life that is closer to our ideals. However cliched the saying may be by now, it is just as true as it ever was. Yet the death of our friend and fellow church member Beryl Foster reminds us that this saying doesn't go quite far enough. Perhaps some of its force would be restored if instead we say, "Today is the first day of eternal life." When someone close to us passes from this world to the next, we realize that each day we are not only beginning the life we will live for the rest of our time here on earth; each day we are beginning the life we will live to all eternity. Based on his extensive experience in the spiritual world, Emanuel Swedenborg assures us that whatever kind of life we have built for ourselves here on earth, we will continue in that same kind of life after we have died. Of course, this especially means our inner life: the life of what we love and believe. Our outward actions have meaning only as they express our true, inner desires and beliefs. And conversely, our real beliefs and desires are the ones we actually live by. If we say that we love other people and want to make them happy, but in fact we make life miserable for those around us, our actions are telling the true story. It is our inner loves and desires, beliefs and attitudes, and the way we live them out in our lives through our actions, that determines who we are, and where we are headed both in this life and in the next. And it is the choices we make here on earth, and especially the choices that we make today, in this very moment (which is really the only moment we ever have) that will determine our fate to eternity. And just in case we think we can put it off and wait until we have died, when we will have angels to teach us and guide us, we are assured by both Swedenborg and the Bible that if we don't start here on earth, we'll never start after we die. Just as those whom Swedenborg encountered would not listen to the angels, Jesus tells us in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that if we are unwilling to listen to the witnesses we have right here on earth, we will not listen to anyone from the spiritual world, either. In the parable, the rich man, who was in torment in hell, reluctantly came to accept that he himself was stuck there to eternity. But he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers who were still alive, so that they wouldn't come into torment in the afterlife as well. Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them." "No, father Abraham," the rich man replied, "but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent." He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." (Luke 16:29-31) There's the stick. Where's the carrot? The carrot is in our reading from John's Gospel: Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields! They are already ripe for harvest. The reaper is receiving wages, and harvesting the fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. Yes, God does warn us to shape ourselves up using what we have already been given, or we'll be shipped out. But God also gives us a wonderful promise. And God holds that promise in front of us every day--if we will only lift up our eyes to see it. It is a promise of reward and rejoicing, of reaping a harvest of goodness, most of which we do not even have to work for. God has given us everything we need; we simply have to make good use of it. When someone close to us does die, we tend to rethink our priorities. We realize once again that no matter how much we have built up for ourselves here on this earth, we don't take any of it with us--except what we have built up within ourselves. None of our accomplishments here on earth will mean anything once we die--except the human ones. The things we have done that have helped (or hurt) other human beings will live on in the minds and hearts of those we have left behind. And they will live on in our own hearts and minds, too. Because everything we do here is practice for what we will do in the life of eternity. And though we will not bring any of our material possessions with us, we will bring those spiritual possessions that we have truly made our own. The ways we have learned to love (or hate), we will bring with us. The understanding (or misunderstanding) we have developed for our fellow human beings, we will bring with us. The habits of useful (or useless) life we have built up here on earth, we will bring with us. And we will forever be the person we have built ourselves into in this life. Today is the first day of that eternal life. We don't have to wait four months; the fields of goodness are ripe for harvest today. We all have regrets about the things we did, or didn't do, in the past. We may have regrets about yesterday. Something we said that we wish we hadn't. Something we didn't get done that we had promised ourselves we would. We indulged in some bad habit that we have been saying all along we are going to break. We let pass some opportunity to say that extra word or do that extra deed of thoughtfulness, out of fear, or shyness, or pride, or for some other reason. We have all fallen short of our best ideals for ourselves. We all wish we could be someone better than we are. The first thing to do is relax. There is no one who is truly good except God (Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19). And no one is perfect except God. Yes, perfection is the ideal to strive for (Matthew 5:48). This keeps our ideals always ahead of us, so that we always have farther to go. But at the same time, we must realize that we will never actually reach perfection. And it is no use beating ourselves up because we are not perfect, because we make mistakes, because we are less than what we could be. This is simply part of the human situation. The first thing to do is relax about ourselves and our lives. And it helps us to do this if we realize that God loves us fully, right now, just as we are at this moment. God does not reject us because of all of the failings that we see in ourselves. God does not reject us because we fall short of perfection. Instead, God looks for the good in us. And though it may sometimes be hard for us to believe, God actually does find good in us to love. Right now, right at this very moment, there are good things in us, and God loves us for that. So the next thing to realize is that God created us for something good, and to be someone good. God created each one of us to be an angel. Even if we have fallen short of perfection, there are some things about us that are good right now. These good things are gifts from God--and God wants to give us even more. Of course, we do have to recognize and be honest about our shortcomings. We do have to put energy into resisting our destructive tendencies and wrong attitudes. However, it helps us tremendously to do this if we have something positive and inspiring to focus on. A sense of hope and a promise that something better is on the way can keep us going in a way that pure self-criticism and self-condemnation simply cannot do. I am reminded of Aesop's fable of "The North Wind and the Sun": The North Wind and the Sun disputed as to which was the most powerful, and agreed that he should be declared the victor who could first strip a wayfaring man of his clothes. The North Wind first tried his power and blew with all his might, but the keener his blasts, the closer the Traveler wrapped his cloak around him, until at last, resigning all hope of victory, the Wind called upon the Sun to see what he could do. The Sun suddenly shone out with all his warmth. The Traveler no sooner felt his genial rays than he took off one garment after another, and at last, fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in his path. Aesop's moral: "Persuasion is better than Force." If we view the North Wind as the accusatory blasts of withering truth that we are quite capable of directing at ourselves, then we can see that such harsh self-condemnation is likely only to cause us to clutch to ourselves even more tightly the familiar clothing of our current attitudes and habits. If we see nothing good and redeeming in ourselves, what is our incentive to give up anything about the way we are right now? The sun, on the other hand, we can see as God's love shining on our souls, and our own acceptance of ourselves when we are warmed by that love. Even when we are bundled up in many faulty ways of thinking and acting, God still shines on us with pure, warm, and very intense love. As we realize this, all those false coverings that are hiding the angel God created us to be start looking less and less appealing. We realize that we no longer need that defensive posture toward others. We no longer need that argumentative spirit. We no longer need that complaining attitude. We no longer need that self-deprecation. Gradually we realize that nothing but love and understanding matters. Nothing but the core human realities of mercy and compassion, of mutual love, understanding, and service means anything in the long run. And one by one, we begin to shed every piece of false clothing that has hidden our best self from God and from one another. And finally, we stand in God's presence with nothing to hide from ourselves or from those around us, because we have reached the good essence of who we are--of who God created us to be. This opening up to God and to one another can start today, and every day. Each day we can shed a little more of the false and limiting self that keeps us from being God's best creation of us. Each day we can move a little closer to the presence of God that is unique and special in us--for God created each one of us to express some particular part of the divine love, goodness, and understanding. Each day, we can express to the people around us a little more of that divine spark within. And each day, we can realize and experience a little more of the warmth and the joy that comes from being the angel we were created to be. As we read in Psalm 16: The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a delightful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to the grave, or let your faithful one see the pit. You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Today is the first day of eternal life. Amen. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Sun Sep 16 21:23:30 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 17:23:30 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] Strengthening Ourselves in the Lord Message-ID: <200109161723_MC3-DFEB-3306@compuserve.com> Strengthening Ourselves in the Lord By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell September 16, 2001 But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. I Samuel 30:6 The terrible events of this week have evoked a huge array of reactions among people through out this world. The tragedy has evoked a numbness and near disbelief. It has evoked a deep fear. It has evoked sadness. For some it has evoked anger and a desire for retaliation. The images of destruction and the tremendous loss of life will long remain in our conscious memories. We can wonder at the why people would choose to do such horrific deeds and why something couldn't have been done to stop or prevent it. The scale of the destruction is staggering. It has touched so many people individually. It holds our attention for many reasons. In a very real sense we know that this tragedy is far more than the events of a few hours time. It can be thought of as being made up of thousands and thousands of human lives that have been forever changed by the loss of loved ones and friends. On this scale for each of these individuals who have lost another human being who is near and dear to him or her, this loss isn't dramatically different to sense of loss that comes from deaths in car crashes, other accidents, or a fatal disease. We can know that the person is still alive and being cared for in the next life by the Lord and His angels, but the empty space left in this life is still huge. The story I read as the first lesson is an ancient example of a massive tragedy. For David and his men, their wives, children, homes, and possessions had all been lost during their absence. Their reactions included overwhelming grief. As I Samuel so clearly states: Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. (I Samuel 30:6) But there was also tremendous anger. David's men in their loss and desire for someone to blame talked of stoning him--making him responsible for their loss. This would not have helped anything. It wouldn't have brought back their wives or children. It would not have erased the sadness. In this apparently hopeless situation we read that "David strengthened himself in the Lord his God." (I Samuel 30:6) And from this strength David sought the Lord's guidance in what they should do next. For them the story turned out far better than it possibly can for many who face the loss of a loved one. They were able to rescue their wives and children. They were able to regain their possessions and even get more from the other plunder of the Amalekites. Over and over again we will face the results of evil in this world. We will be saddened by these results and we will also be tempted to have a number of reactions that are dangerous to our own spiritual welfare and to the welfare of those around us. There are evil spirits that seek our minds to be poisoned with hatred, bogged down with hopelessness, or crippled by fear and mistrust. We are told very clearly in the Writings of the New Church that not all things that happen are what the Lord desires. The Laws of Permission are also Laws of the Divine Providence There are no laws of permission by themselves or separate from the laws of the Divine Providence: they are indeed the same. When, therefore, it is said that God permits, this does not mean that He wills, but that He cannot avert on account of the end, which is salvation. Whatever is done for the sake of the end, namely, salvation, is according to the laws of the Divine Providence. For, as was said before, the Divine Providence, keeping this end continually in view, is constantly moving in ways different from and contrary to a person's will. Therefore, at every moment of its operation or at every step of its progress, when it perceives a person to deviate from this end, it directs, bends and disposes that person in accordance with its laws by withdrawing him from evil and leading him to good. It will be seen in what follows that this cannot be done without permitting evil. Moreover, nothing can be permitted without a cause, and such a cause is only to be found in some law of the Divine Providence which explains why it is permitted. (Divine Providence 234) We are called to see the Lord as a God of infinite love, wisdom and power. We are told that the Lord is caring for each of us every least fraction of a moment. And yet this is not always the way it appears. God can seem distant in sad situations such as when a baby is born with severe birth defects, or the tragic death of a child or of a young person just entering the prime of his life or a parent leaving behind a spouse and children. The Lord can seem distant when elderly people feel lonely and useless and their natural body has gotten so old that it hinders them every moment. That person can feel burdened and like a problem for others. How are we to make sense of events that seem far more destructive than constructive? How are we expected to feel? When someone dies certainly our knowledge of the life after death can help us feel a sense of joy for that person as we picture him or her entering into the happiness and beauty of heaven. But sadness is also appropriate. We are separated from a loved one and can no longer directly express love nor can we feel expressions of love from that person as before. We know that when a person dies, the only thing that is really dead is something purely natural--their physical body. However that physical body had been extremely important. By means of it a person's spirit has been able to exist, to learn, make choices and through these choices can serve others in this world. Though something merely natural, that physical body is very important. Similarly when a tragedy strikes in this world harming some other natural thing that has been of use, we can appropriately feel sadness at that loss. When a car that has safely carried a family for nearly one hundred thousand miles of trips large and small is damaged beyond repair by an accident, the sense of loss need not be from a materialistic love. When something useful has been harmed or destroyed, this world is missing something. Certainly the Lord encourages us not to set our heart on natural things, but when we have valued the use a natural thing has served, we are not so much valuing the natural thing itself as the use. Why do bad things happen? A wise answer is not a simple matter of saying, "Its the Lord's plan." If we assume that everything is determined to happen the way it happens we can become apathetic. For example a person can say, "I don't need to wear a seat belt. When my time is up, I'll die and that is that." This perspective taken to an extreme would say we really don't need to worry about any decisions because the Lord is controlling all things. However the truth is that things happen that the Lord doesn't want to have happen. There are things that happen that are extremely destructive of the goals He seeks to accomplish with His infinite love and wisdom. Some people have tried to understand bad things by thinking that God only has a part of the power that governs the universe. Some have seemed to personify an evil force existing entirely separate from the Lord vying with Him for control and sometimes the Lord wins and sometimes the prince of darkness wins. But when we say the Lord's prayer we end with the words, "For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever." We don't say "part of the power." In a very real sense, there is not a single thing that happens apart from the Lord's government. Nothing is completely out of control. But this does not mean that bad things are what the Lord wants to have happen. Instead, we are told that some things happen directly according to His will, some things happen only partially according to what the Lord would wish and some things happen contrary to what He would want. Such things are said to be "permitted" by the Lord. Why are they permitted? Why doesn't the Lord intervene to stop such bad things? The reason is that He cannot without causing far greater harm than benefit. The key reason for why He cannot intervene when we might want Him to is that it is absolutely essential for our happiness that genuine freedom exist. Without freedom we cease to be human and it is only to the degree that we receive a genuine humanity from the Lord that we can feel happiness. But it is also important for us to recognize that bad things that happen are not always a consequence of our own choices or of some lesson that we need to learn. While it is true that the Lord works to bring some good out all things that happen, even those which are terribly destructive, it is not necessarily the way the Lord would most want us to gain that benefit and doesn't necessarily reflect a problem that we needed to face. When a person faces a series of challenges in his life, sometimes the way he looks at it is reflected in the words, "I guess the Lord is trying to teach me something." If this implies that the Lord chose these events with a lesson in mind, I think it does not reflect the way the Lord really operates. He never wishes that bad things happen even for the sake of teaching us some lesson. When destructive things happen it is always something that has been permitted. The Lord is constantly working to accomplish His goals in our lives. But there are two other influences that He permits that can interfere with what He wants. Firstly, our individual freedom can have us make choices that hurt us and others. We know that people can make profoundly bad decisions that have terrible consequences. But there is also a second force, one that exists because hell exists. Accidents, sickness and other tragedies can occur whose consequences that far exceed the significance of an individual person's choice. A moments inattention while driving can result in a terrible car accident. Is the driver responsible for this consequence? I don't think we should think so. A person can slip, fall and hurt himself, perhaps even lose his life. Is he responsible for his death because of where he placed his foot or for being in a situation in which he could slip? I think not. Some bad things happen because the Lord permits even the evil spirits of hell some freedom. They, using their life which they have received from the Lord and perverted, can produce tragedies in this world. These tragedies do not reflect a proper consequence of choices by people in this world. The influence of the hells can produce sickness and natural disasters. They can produce tragedies that seem so random and without clear explanation that they sometimes get called, "acts of God." But in reality it would probably be wiser if we called them acts of hell. We are called though to trust that even in these terribly destructive events we have not been abandoned by the Lord. Consider the following words: From this it may be seen how far someone errs who believes that the Lord has not foreseen and does not see the smallest individual thing with a person, or that within the smallest individual thing He does not foresee and lead, when in fact the Lord's foresight and providence are present within the tiniest details of all the smallest individual things with him, and in details so tiny that it is impossible to comprehend in any manner of thought one in many millions of them. For every smallest fraction of a moment of a person's life entails a chain of consequences extending into eternity. Indeed every one is like a new beginning to those that follow, and so every single moment of the life both of his understanding and of his will is a new beginning. And since the Lord foresaw from eternity what every person was going to be like in the future and even into eternity it is clear that providence is present in the smallest individual things, and, as has been stated, is governing all people and diverting them so that them may be such, this being achieved by constant re-shaping of their freedom. (Arcana Caelestia 3854:3) We are called to trust in the Lord's loving care. This trust will not be an easy matter to come to the moment a tragedy has occurred. At times, we will have to inevitably go through feelings of sadness and even anger. But the Lord would lead us to a peacefulness that can follow our initial reactions. May our trust in the Lord grow stronger each day. This trust will come as we face the ups and downs of life and seek to acknowledge that even through things that are not the Lord's will, He can still work to accomplish some good. We can ask for an underlying peace even as we deal with problems and sadness. We will never be able to see things as the Lord does, but may we wisely use the capabilities we have and try to do our part to make this world a better place, more like the heavenly kingdom that the Lord want for all of us. AMEN Lessons: I Samuel 30:1-8 People who trust in the Lord . . .though concerned about the morrow, yet are they unconcerned, in that they are not anxious, let alone worried, when they give thought to the morrow. They remain even-tempered whether or not they realize desires, and they do not grieve over loss; they are content with their lot. If they become wealthy they do not become infatuated with wealth; if they are promoted to important positions they do not consider themselves worthier than others. If they become poor they are not made miserable either; if lowly in status they do not feel downcast. They know that for those who trust in the Divine all things are moving towards an everlasting state of happiness, and that no matter what happens at any time to them, it contributes to that state. It should be recognized that Divine providence is overall, that is, it is present within the smallest details of all, and that people in the stream of providence are being carried along constantly towards happier things, whatever appearance the means may present. Those in the stream of providence are people who trust in the Divine and ascribe everything to Him. But those not in the stream of providence are people who trust in themselves alone and attribute everything to themselves; theirs is a contrary outlook, for they take providence away from the Divine and claim it as their own. It should be recognized also that to the extent that anyone is in the stream of providence that person is in a state of peace; and to the extent that anyone is in a state of peace by virtue of the good of faith, that person is in the Divine providence. These alone know and believe that the Lord's Divine providence resides within every single thing, indeed within the smallest details of all, as well as that Divine providence has what is eternal in view. Arcana Caelestia 8478:3-4 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible, are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@mediaone.net Sat Sep 22 00:33:16 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 20:33:16 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Johnny Appleseed: Peace Amid the Storm," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010921202937.0223e340@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Johnny Appleseed: Peace Amid the Storm By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 16, 2001 Readings Isaiah 42:1-7: A bruised reed he will not break "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope." This is what God the Lord says--he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: "I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness." Matthew 11:25-30: My yoke is easy and my burden is light At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Arcana Coelestia #8455: True Peace Peace holds within itself trust in the Lord--the trust that God governs all things and provides all things, and that he leads us towards an end that is good. When we believe these things about the Lord we are at peace, since we fear nothing, and no anxiety about the future disturbs us. How far we gain this state depends on how much we grow in love to the Lord. Everything bad, especially trust in ourselves, takes away the state of peace. We may think that bad people are at peace when they are calm and cheerful because everything is going right for them. But this is not peace. It is merely the calmness and pleasure belonging to evil desires, which is only an imitation of the state of peace. Since this pleasure is the opposite of the pleasure belonging to peace, it turns to unpleasantness in the next life, because that is what lies hidden within it. In the next life, outward things are peeled away, one layer after another, right to the deepest things at the center. Peace is at the center of all delight--and even of unpleasant things, when we are governed by goodness. So as much as we depart from our external self, our state of peace is revealed, and we are filled with joy, blessedness, and happiness, which come from the Lord himself. Sermon Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30) We have all been in shock after Tuesday's attacks. All the death and destruction they brought. The realization that we are vulnerable. That there are people who hate us. And now the shock is giving way to anger, and a desire for revenge and retaliation. Now there is talk of war. I was saddened to see that at the end of Time magazine's special issue on the attack there was a piece titled "The Case for Rage and Retribution." And it made me realize that it was rage and retribution that led to the attacks on Tuesday. This is a tragedy. But I am not here today to speak of politics. We are in church, where we come to seek the spirit, and to hear of spiritual things. This is where we come to learn of God. And as the children said during the children's talk, we come here to learn how to be nice to each other. So today I want to speak, not of war, but of peace. And not even of external peace, but of the inner, spiritual peace that the outward peace comes from. Because when we have this peace within our souls--when we as individuals, and we as a nation, and we as a world have the peace that comes only from having God within our souls--then war, and tragedies like Tuesday's, will be unnecessary. When we have God's peace, war will become a thing of the past. I would like to speak of peace today. Of a spiritual peace that we can have even in the midst of times of war. Before the Tuesday's tragedy happened, we had already planned a theme and a children's program on Johnny Appleseed. And especially for the sake of the children, I decided to go ahead with that theme. We also, of course, had a wonderful service of prayer and remembrance here two evenings ago, on Friday, sponsored by the Bridgewater Council of Churches. At that service our church was filled almost to capacity with about 250 people of many faiths and backgrounds who were coming together to remember the victims, and to bring God into this terrible tragedy. Today I would like to move forward and inward, away from the wars and rumors of war that we now are hearing, and look at Johnny Appleseed as a man who was a center of peace in the midst of very turbulent and violent times. As it turns out, Johnny Appleseed is actually a wonderful, emblematic figure for the exactly circumstances that we are in right now. Johnny Appleseed was popularized in our culture by the old Disney animation that showed him as a happy-go-lucky fellow walking around with a pot on his head and seeming not to have a care in the world. For the children, it's not particularly harmful to present him in that way. It is good for children need to see the good side of things first. And in fact, Johnny Appleseed was a person who had joy and peace within his heart. He was a person who enjoyed the people and the world of nature around him. But Johnny Appleseed's reality was quite different from the happy-go-lucky fellow without a care in the world presented in the Disney movie. First of all, Johnny Appleseed was a businessman. He was a little unconventional in his business methods; but he was a businessman. He was an orchardist. He planted trees. He cleared the land, he fenced them in, he tended them, and he sold both the trees he grew and the land he acquired. He was unconventional in that he sold his trees on a sliding scale. If he knew that the buyer was able to pay the going rate for apple trees, he would charge them that. If he knew they couldn't afford that much, he would charge them less. And if he knew that they had nothing but perhaps a meal to offer or something to barter, he would take that in return for his trees. Except for a brief period of settling down and thinking that he might become a settled orchardist and make a business out of it, he was an itinerant orchardist. He was a businessman who operated by unconventional means, and brought great blessings to the people he served. Johnny Appleseed was a businessman. Johnny Appleseed was also a missionary, spreading not only the teachings of the Bible, but also the teachings and the works of Emanuel Swedenborg to many, many families on the frontier. As he liked to say when he came to the frontier families' houses, "I come bringing good news right fresh from heaven." He loved to carry around copies of Swedenborg's books, such as Heaven and Hell. He would sometimes separate the books into two or three sections and distribute them to families who were willing to read them--which was his only criterion as to whether he would give copies of his books and pamphlets to a family. Then later, when he came around again, he would swap sections so that the one who had the first half would get the second half, and so on. Johnny Appleseed was a Swedenborgian missionary. And various Swedenborgian groups sprang up in the places he visited. Even today, there are Swedenborgian churches in the Midwest that can trace some of their early roots back to the "good news" spread by Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Appleseed was also a great story teller, keeping children and adults entertained, and also informed about the events in the surrounding communities and states. These were the days before radio, television, telephones, and other means of mass communication, so communication for those frontier families happened on foot. It happened through people like Johnny Appleseed who traveled to different areas, and brought the news around to the frontier families. But our focus today is on Johnny Appleseed as a man of peace amid the storm. Johnny was not happy-go-lucky. He lived in dangerous and violent times. Of course, there was the untamed wilderness that he traveled through; the wild animals that would just as soon eat him as look at him. But wild animals were not the greatest thing Johnny Appleseed had to fear. What he found most dangerous was the people. Just like today, people of different races and cultures were often in conflict. There were the Whites against the Indians, the British against French, and so on. If you look around the New World at that time, there was a great deal of conflict. Settlers' cabins were getting burned down. Indian towns were getting destroyed. Johnny Appleseed moved in that violent world. It may have been more primitive than today, but in many ways things are not that different now. Today we still have people of different religions and different races in conflict with one another. And we have seen that come home in a very devastating way this past week. Johnny Appleseed moved in a violent and uncertain world. He was no dreamer. He was realistic about war and conflict. When he knew that there were Indians or troops of the opposing army coming, he would warn the settlers. He once did a famous run of thirty miles in one night, warning the frontier families to flee for their lives because there was an army coming. Johnny Appleseed was not a dreamer. He knew the realities of his world. Yet in the midst of all of this, Johnny Appleseed carried within him a peace that transcended all those outward circumstances. Though he moved in turbulent times, Johnny Appleseed was at peace both with the white people and with the Indians. Both accepted and trusted him. He made no distinction among the different races and religions. He even considered animals his friends, and would not harm them. It is said that he would put out his fire if he saw mosquitoes dying in its flames. Even though he lived in the midst of nature which was often violent, and in the midst of people who were often violent, he himself moved as a center of peace in the midst of that storm of violence. He spoke the Indians' language, and they trusted him so much that they allowed him to sit in on their councils and hear their deliberations. This was useful when he acted as an "ambassador" between the Whites and the Indians. He knew the issues that the Indians were concerned about, or angry about, or worried about, and sometimes the things they were planning to do. He could bring that knowledge into the white settlements, and sometimes avert hostilities that otherwise would have taken place. Johnny Appleseed helped to bring peace where he could. Of course, he was not always successful. Human greed and the human desire for conquest are very strong, and one man cannot overcome that amidst clashing cultures. As we look at this remarkable man--an eccentric certainly, and yet a person of strong conviction, and a person who was bent on doing good--we ask, where did this peace amid the storm come from? Where did he gain the peace that was in his soul even in the midst of these violent, difficult times? We know that it was not external peace, because Johnny's external circumstances were often not very peaceful. In fact, they were often very difficult. He was poorly clothed and underfed, he traveled through difficult terrain, and at times he had to face hostile Indians and even hostile white people who didn't appreciate his presence. Not everyone loved Johnny Appleseed. His peace was not an external peace. It was an inward peace. It was a peace of the spirit. It was a peace that comes only from trusting in God. I'd like to read you a passage from Swedenborg's work Arcana Coelestia (Secrets from Heaven), #8455: Peace holds within itself trust in the Lord--the trust that God governs all things and provides all things, and that he leads us towards an end that is good. When we believe these things about the Lord we are at peace, since we fear nothing, and no anxiety about the future disturbs us. How far we gain this state depends on how much we grow in love to the Lord. Even though Johnny Appleseed moved in very difficult outward circumstances, he had a peace that came from his trust in the Lord; a peace that came from knowing within himself that God is guiding all things toward what is good. He trusted that God would take care of him through good circumstances and bad. And Johnny did live out his threescore and ten years, dying at the age of seventy-one. From the peace that Johnny had within himself--the peace of knowing that God is present, of knowing that God governs this world--he drew his strength, and his desire to treat others in the same way that God treats people. He treated others with respect and understanding, whether they were Black or White or Indian, whether they were Christian or "heathen"--as non-Christians were called in those days. He tried to do good to every living being around him. Johnny Appleseed, in his own rough way, walked the path of Jesus. Jesus was the one who would not break a bruised read or snuff out a smoldering wick. Because Jesus also knew that all things are in God's hands. He knew that his task was to follow the way and the will of God--who was also his own inmost soul. And he knew that if we will follow the will of God, all things will be taken care of, no matter how hard they may seem. He knew that God has a plan for this earth, and that he is bending all things toward the good. In these terribly difficult times, when we are weary and burdened, let us turn to the Lord. The Lord will give us the answers we seek. The Lord will guide us on the path we need to go. And even in these terribly difficult times, the Lord will give us peace amid the storm, if we will only follow God's way, and not our own. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30) ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Fri Sep 28 15:28:43 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 11:28:43 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] Created in God's Image, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20010928112728.023a6260@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Created in God's Image By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 23, 2001 Readings Genesis 1:20-31: Created in God's image Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created humankind in his image. In the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." And God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. Matthew 5:1-12: The Blessings When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up to the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad! For your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Arcana Coelestia #49: God is the only truly human being To people in the earliest spiritual era, with whom the Lord spoke face to face, he appeared as a human being. Because of this, they used the word "human" for no one but him, or for his qualities. They did not even call themselves human, except for the aspects of themselves that they knew he had given them, such as all the goodness that comes from love and all the truth that comes from faith. They described these things as human because they are the Lord's. Sermon Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness. (Genesis 1:20) Today the Sunday School children are starting their regular course of lessons, based on the _Bible Study Notes_ by Anita S. Dole. Mrs. Dole (who was my grandmother) arranged the Bible readings so that each year the classes would start with Genesis and cover high points of the whole Bible story, ending the church year with the book of Revelation. Though the lessons covered the whole Bible story each year, there were four different "series" of lessons, so that each year for four years the children would get different stories. By the time they came back around to the same series again, they would be in an older class, and would study the stories at a deeper level. This year I have once again decided to follow the children's lesson series, so that the adults who stay in church for the service will be learning from the same Bible readings that the children are learning about in their Sunday School classes. I like the idea of parents and their children being able to talk about the Bible story, each from something they have gained here at the church. This year, we are using Series 3 of the "Dole Notes," and our opening story on Creation focuses on the fifth and sixth days. By the time the fifth day of Creation rolls around, God has already created: * The heavens and the earth, and the light, separating the light from the darkness (the first day). * The dome of the sky that separates the water of the clouds above the dome from the waters on the earth below the dome (the second day). * The seas and the dry land, and the plants and trees on the dry land (the third day). * The sun, moon, and stars, marking out day and night, summer and winter. (the fourth day). Then come the two days covered in today's Sunday School lesson. On the fifth day, the dome of the sky that was created on the second day is populated with birds, and the waters under the dome are populated with fish and other sea creatures. And on the sixth day, the land that was gathered together on the third day is populated with animals of every kind, and finally with humankind. Now, the seven days of Creation is a very nice story--especially to tell to children. They love to hear about God creating new things each day, until finally everything is ready, and God creates people to live in that beautiful, new world. For the little ones, it doesn't matter whether it really happened that way or not. The message they get is that God made everything, and that it is all "very good." For adults, though, the story presents some problems. It seems that instead of being about six thousand years old, as the Bible's chronology would have it, the earth is actually several _billion_ years old. A great deal of ink has been spilled in debates between Evangelical Christians and scientists over whether the Creation story in the first chapter of Genesis is "true." Many secular scientists have come to the conclusion that the Bible is simply wrong, and is therefore outdated and not of much use. Meanwhile, many Evangelical Christians go through great intellectual contortions in an attempt to demonstrate that the world was, in fact, created in seven days, and not over billions of years as science says it was. Of course, those Evangelicals are simply trying to defend what they see as the truth of God's Word. But it is all needless. The fallacy is in thinking that the Bible can be considered "true" only if it is _literally_ true. Vast parts of human literature--poetry, novels, fantasy, science fiction, and so on--were never intended by their authors to be taken as literally true, and yet they often contain powerful truths about the human condition. We go to movies not only to be entertained, but to gain insights into human relationships and human realities--even when we know that the characters we see on the screen are fictional. In a similar fashion, much of the Bible's truth resides, not in the literal accuracy of all its stories, but in the deeper truths those stories contain about the human condition--especially the human _spiritual_ condition. We don't call a great novel like _War and Peace_ "false" because it describes conversations and events that never took place. Rather, we enjoy it as a novel, and gain great insight from it. Similarly, God has spoken to us in the Bible through many different kinds of "literature," much of which was never meant to be taken literally, either by its original human authors or by God, who is its divine Author. This is especially true of the first eleven chapters of the Bible, where we find such great, mythical stories as the Seven Days of Creation, the Garden of Eden, Noah and the Ark, and the Tower of Babel. These are stories about the human condition--and about how we humans came to be the mixture of good and evil that we are today. Today, as we look at the Creation story in Genesis Chapter 1, I would like to focus especially on God's final creation on the sixth day: humankind. I use that word "humankind" intentionally, since the Hebrew word _"adam"_ does not refer so much to an individual human being--a "man"--as it does to the human race: to humanity. Because of the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2, the creation of humankind in Genesis 1 is often interpreted as the creation of a single man and his wife. But if the story is read on its own, a more natural interpretation would be that God created humankind--the human family. As we read through the Creation story, everything God creates is good, and everything is related to all the other parts of creation. Yet when the story comes to the creation of humankind, we find something unique in all of the Creation story. God says, "Let us make humankind _in our image, according to our likeness._" Of course, everything in the created universe is some way a reflection of God, their creator. But human beings are said to be specifically created in God's image. This is not said about the sun, moon, and stars created on the fourth day, or about the fish and the birds created on the fifth day, or even about the great variety of land animals created on the sixth day. It is only said about humans--the final creation of the sixth day, made just before God proclaimed that all creation was "very good," and then rested from his work on the seventh day. What does it mean to be created in God's image, and in God's likeness? A popular conception of God is as an ancient, powerful man with a long beard, sitting on a throne in heaven judging the world. God, in this view, is seen as a man. From this idea of God, we could say that human beings are created in God's image because like God, we have hands and feet, legs and arms, bodies and heads, eyes and ears. God is the great Human Being in the sky, and we are all little, tiny human beings, created to look like God, and populating the earth that God has created. Though we may chuckle a bit at the idea of God as a bearded old man sitting on a throne in heaven, it is not so far off the track. No, I don't think God literally sits on a throne in heaven. For one thing, it would get incredibly boring to sit on that same old throne millennium after millennium! And yet, as we read earlier from Emanuel Swedenborg's _Arcana Coelestia (Secrets from Heaven)_, "To people in the earliest spiritual era, with whom the Lord spoke face to face, he appeared as a human being." So for those early people who, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, spoke to God face to face, "walking with him in the garden," God had a face, a body, arms, legs, and so on. And of course, as Christians, we can picture God in the very human form of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Yet there is also a deeper way that God is human than merely having a human-shaped body. After all, we humans are not the only creatures that have arms and legs, heads and bodies, eyes and ears. Though we do have some distinctive characteristics, such as standing erect instead of on all fours, to a physiologist the similarities between us and the lower animals are far greater than the differences. Is it merely opposable thumbs, walking on our hind legs, and having a larger brain proportional to our body mass that makes us human? No. There is more. To continue with the quote from _Arcana Coelestia_, "Because God appeared to the earliest people as a human being, they used the word 'human' for no one but him, _or for his qualities._" I put emphasis on that last phrase because it introduces a new and deeper idea of what it means to be human. God is not human from having a body, but from having human _qualities._ And we are human only to the extent that we have those same qualities of character from God. What are the qualities that make God truly human--and us from God? Our reading from Swedenborg gives two examples: the goodness that comes from love and the truth that comes from faith. Yes, these are _human_ qualities. Goodness that comes from love: feeling love for other people, and doing good and kind things for them from love. Truth that comes from faith: believing in the reality of God, and gaining a deeper, more spiritual, and truer view of the universe and our place in it. Today as we continue to grieve the inhuman acts of death and destruction visited upon our country by people acting from the inhuman emotions of hatred and a desire to destroy others, I would like to get more specific about what it means to be truly human. Because the danger is that in reacting to these terrible deeds, we, too, will descend into the same inhuman feelings, motives, and actions an our attackers displayed. To gain a fuller picture of what makes us truly human, let's take a brief tour through the things that Jesus says will make us "blessed," or happy. Many of them are far from our initial thoughts of what make us human--and yet they touch the heart of our humanity. * "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Isn't it when we see the great need--the spiritual poverty--of others that we feel most drawn to them? Most sympathetic? That we wish to give them the heaven of human companionship? * "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Mourning is a truly human characteristic. If we did not mourn our losses--especially the loss of people we love--could we really be said to love our fellow human beings at all? * "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." We are not at our most human when we are conquering and subjugating others, but when, in simple innocence and humility, we share our tender feelings and our simple, good thoughts with others. * "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." What creature besides humans hungers and thirsts for righteousness? It is the search for what is good and right that truly makes human beings great. * "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." The world of nature is merciless to the small, the weak, the old, the infirm. It is the excellence of human beings that we can show mercy and kindness to those who need protection and support. * "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Now we are being challenged; for who is truly pure in heart? Yet in the very striving for purity of heartfelt love, we begin to see and know the true nature of God, who is infinitely pure love for all. * "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." And here is another challenge--especially in these times when war is in the air. Instead of beating the drums of war, can we reach for the true humanity of striving for understanding? For mercy? For justice? For forgiveness? For peace with our fellow human beings? This would mark us as truly human--as children of the human God. * "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad! For your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Here we are challenged to the utmost. When we are being attacked and abused, can we see this, not as a reason to respond in kind, seeking revenge for what has been done to us, but as an opportunity to show God's glory in an even greater way? It is easy to be good to others when they are being good to us. Even selfish and materialistic people do that. Yes, even animals are good to their animal companion. What marks us as truly human is when we maintain our integrity, our principles, our commitment to justice and righteousness, to kindness and compassion, even when we are being attacked for those very qualities in us. If we are able to do this, then even in the midst of conflict and struggle--no, _especially_ in the midst of conflict and struggle--we can rejoice and be very glad. For then we know that our humanity is not merely skin deep. Then we know that we are truly being created in the image and likeness of God, who "causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). When we can love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), then we have truly learned what it is to be human. Then we have truly been created in the image and likeness of God. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Oct 1 15:43:13 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 11:43:13 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] IS THE LORD ALWAYS THE SAME? Message-ID: <200110011143_MC3-E1B9-896C@compuserve.com> IS THE LORD ALWAYS THE SAME? By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell September 30, 2001 Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God . . . So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. Exodus 32:11,14 The reflective reader of the Old and New Testaments can find that some stories are troubling in the way they present the Lord. As reflected in the words quoted above when the Lord informed Moses that the Children of Israel had started worshiping a golden calf, it seems that the Lord's first reaction is one of destructive anger. He planned to annihilate the whole troublesome group of them. Moses begged for mercy, first suggesting that such a response would damage the Lord's reputation among the Egyptians and then reminding the Lord that He had sworn a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to multiply their descendants and give them the land of Canaan. The result of Moses' pleading is that the Lord relents. He apparently rethinks what He planned to do. He changes His mind. Most of us have grown up with the clear knowledge that the Lord is perfect love and perfect wisdom. He knows all things, is present everywhere, and has all power. We have been taught that it is incorrect and even just plain logically inconsistent to think of the Infinite changing. At every moment the Lord is working with His love, wisdom, knowledge, and power to care for the tiniest details of each human being's life. An example of this kind of teaching occurs in the following passage from the Arcana Caelestia: Someone errs who believes that the Lord has not foreseen and does not see the smallest individual thing with each person, or that within the smallest individual thing He does not foresee and lead, when in fact the Lord's foresight and providence are present within the tiniest details of all the smallest individual things with him, and in details so tiny that it is impossible to comprehend in any manner of thought one in many millions of them. For every smallest fraction of a moment of a person's life entails a chain of consequences extending to eternity. Indeed every one is like a new beginning to those that follow, and so every single moment of the life both of his understanding and of his will is a new beginning. And since the Lord foresaw from eternity what each person was going to be like in the future and even to eternity it is clear that providence is present in the smallest individual things, and, is governing him and bending him so that he may be such, this being achieved by constant reshaping of his freedom. (Arcana Caelestia 3854:3) >From the Lord's perspective His effort in our lives is a single, continuous, unchanging expression of His love for each of us and His desire to lead us to the greatest usefulness to ourselves and others and so to the greatest possible happiness. But it is incredibly important that we also picture the Lord as changing and meeting us differently in our different states. This statement may contradict an idea that some of you have understood to be true from your earliest memory. Listen to the reasons that support the idea that we need to picture the Lord as changing. The Old Testament, New Testament, and Writings of the New Church all present the idea that the most fundamental part of worship and the life of religion is that we are to love the Lord. In Deuteronomy we read the words familiar to many of us: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) Real love cannot be for an abstraction. Real love can only exist for another who we sense freely loves us in return. In the New Testament, the Lord clearly told His disciples that they were not to try to approach the Father directly. He said: "No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ?Show us the Father'?" (John 16:6-9) The Writings of the New Church explain these words as meaning that we cannot be joined in a loving relationship with the unchanging Infinite itself. Consider the implications of the following words spoken by angels to some false Christians in the life after death and quoted in the True Christian Religion: . . .the idea of God enters into everything of religion, and by means of it a person is conjoined [establishes a deep relationship of love] with God, and by means of conjunction [this relationship of love] is saved. We in heaven say [the Lord's prayer] daily in the same way as people do on earth, and in doing so we are not thinking of God the Father, for He is invisible but we think of Him in His Divine Human, because in that He is visible, and in that He is by you called Christ, but by us is called the Lord; thus the Lord is our Father in the heavens. The Lord also taught that He and the Father are one; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father; and that he who sees Him sees the Father; and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. He also taught that it is the Father's will that people should believe in the Son, and that he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life; and even that the wrath of God abides upon him. All this makes it clear that the Father is to be approached through the Son and in the Son. For that reason too He also taught that all power in heaven and on earth was given to Him. The prayer states, "Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come;" and we have shown from the Word that the Father's name is the Divine Human of the Lord, and that the kingdom of the Father comes when the Lord is approached directly, and comes not at all when God the Father is approached directly. (True Christian Religion 113:6) We are invited to freely return the Lord's love. We are invited to approach Him. We cannot successfully do this if we approach the Infinite itself. Even the angels in their purity cannot do this. We have been given an amazing variety of pictures of the Lord in the stories of the Old and New Testament. The Lord could be deeply merciful and forgiving as in the case of the woman caught in the act of adultery. He could be powerfully reprimanding as when James and John suggested that they call fire from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village that had rejected them or when He berated the scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites or comparing them to highly poisonous snakes. He could be humorous when He noted that they could "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:24) He could be intensely sad as when he wept to see Mary and others crying over the death of her brother Lazarus. Concerning the Lord's response to what can happen even today consider the meaning of this phrase from the book of Revelation as given in the Apocalypse Revealed: And cried with a great voice, as a lion roars, signifies agonizing sadness that the church has been taken away from Him. That by "crying as a lion roars," is signified agonizing sadness respecting the church, and that it has been taken away from Him. Sadness concerning these things is signified by "His roaring as a lion," for a lion roars when he sees his enemies and is attacked by them, and when he sees his cubs or food taken away; so does the Lord, comparatively, when He sees His church taken away from Him by devils. (Apocalypse Revealed 471) While we are told repeatedly that the Lord is never angry, we are also told: . . . many things in the Word, more than anyone may believe, have been stated according to appearances and according to the illusions of the senses?such as that Jehovah expresses anger, wrath, and rage against the wicked; that He takes delight in bringing them to destruction and annihilation; and even that He slays them. But the reason such things have been stated in the Word is so that people's persuasions and evil desires might not be destroyed but might be turned in a new direction. For to have spoken of things in a way other than human beings are able to grasp, that is, other than from appearances, illusions, and persuasions, would have been like sowing seed on the waters and would have been expressing that which would be instantly rejected. (Arcana Caelestia 1874) Note this doesn't say because children couldn't understand it any other way, it is talking about the human condition. An abstract intellectual part of our mind can indeed think of the Infinite. We can think, given His perfect knowledge of all things the Lord could be unperturbed and completely calm about everything. When this thought of the Lord is brought to our daily prayers, it isn't hard to feel like it is a relatively useless exercise. If we know what we think and the Lord does also why talk about it. And yet the Lord calls us to this conversation with Him. Consider this definition of prayer and description of its results: Regarded in itself prayer is talking to God and at the same time some inner view of the things that are being prayed for. Answering to this there is something akin to an influx into the perception or thought of the person's mind, which effects a certain opening of his internals toward God. But the experience varies according to the person's state according to the essence of whatever he is praying for. If his prayer springs from love and faith, and if they are wholly heavenly and spiritual things about which and for which he prays, something like a revelation is present within his prayer which manifests itself in the affection of the one praying in the form of hope, comfort, and some inward joy. (Arcana Caelestia 2535) We can benefit from picturing the Lord's presence with us as being different according to our different states. We can picture Him warmly smiling when we are happy and grateful. We can picture Him acknowledging our sadness and His grief over our concern when we feel deeply troubled. We can picture Him gently, but firmly teaching us when we seek greater understanding. And we can picture Him with darkly flashing eyes and a powerful voice when we are seriously contemplating an evil that would hurt us and others. In humility it can be useful for us to realize that He is listening to our plans with an understanding expression, but feeling the same warm amusement that we can have listening to a five-year-old tell us just how rich he's going to be when he grows up. We can picture Him with us as the most perfect loving friend would be. What we can be sure will never change is that all He does in reaching out to us, teaching, leading, comforting, and strengthening us comes from His love for us. This is absolutely unchanging. The Lord never, ever loses interest, gets impatient, or changes His allegiance. The True Christian Religion assures us that He is not even able to look sternly at us. (True Christian Religion 56e) But we can and maybe even should picture Him looking sternly at us in certain states of mind. What we can know is that this sternness has absolutely no desire to punish within it. It is another expression of His concern for our present welfare, the welfare of those whom our lives touch, and the long-term happiness of us all. We cannot really love or feel loved by the Infinite Itself. We cannot be conjoined to this perfect, unchanging presence. We are called to worship the Lord in His Divine Human. We are to worship Him as a God who can be visible to our mind's eye. May we take wonderful assurance from what will never change about His love and care for us and realize that the way we picture this love and care meeting us in our different states of life can and even should change. AMEN. Lessons: Exodus 32:7-14 . . . many things in the Word, more than anyone may believe, have been stated according to appearances and according to the illusions of the senses?such as that Jehovah expresses anger, wrath, and rage against the wicked; that He takes delight in bringing them to destruction and annihilation; and even that He slays them. But the reason such things have been stated in the Word is so that people's persuasions and evil desires might not be destroyed but might be turned in a new direction. For to have spoken of things in a way other than human beings are able to grasp, that is, other than from appearances, illusions, and persuasions, would have been like sowing seed on the waters and would have been expressing that which would be instantly rejected. Nevertheless those things stated according to appearances and illusions are able to serve as general vessels in which spiritual and celestial things may be contained; for into them the truth may be introduced that all things derive from the Lord; then the truth that the Lord permits, but that all evil derives from devilish spirits; after that the truth that the Lord provides and arranges for evils to be converted into goods; and finally the truth that nothing but good comes from the Lord. Thus the sense of the letter perishes as it rises up, and becomes spiritual, then heavenly, and finally Divine. Arcana Caelestia 1874 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@mediaone.net Tue Oct 2 02:30:15 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2001 22:30:15 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "The Root of All Evil," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011001222938.0217d9f0@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Root of All Evil By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 30, 2001 Readings Genesis 3: The Fall of Humankind Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate." The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." And to the man he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. . . ." Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. Mark 7:14-23: What makes a person unclean? Jesus called the crowd and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, "Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer, purging all the foods?" And he said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person Divine Providence: #83.2 The source of all evil Human beings are born into the love of self and the love of the world, and from these as wellsprings, into evils of every kind. We are led by the pleasures of these loves, and these pleasures prevent us from knowing that we are involved in evil things; for we feel as good every pleasure that comes from love. So unless we are reborn, we know nothing but that loving ourselves and the material world above all things is goodness itself; and that ruling over all, and possessing the wealth of all other people, is the highest good. Yet this is the source of all evil. Sermon The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" (Genesis 3:2, 3) In his first letter to Timothy, Paul makes a statement that is often misquoted--and even when properly quoted is slightly off from the original Greek. In the King James Version it reads, "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). That seems pretty cut and dried. All evil comes from the love of money. (And all this time we thought it was from Adam and Eve disobeying God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil!) However, in this case the translators of the King James Version were a bit over-zealous. It should have been translated, "The love of money is _a_ root of all evil"--and later translations have made this correction. In other words, the love of money is one source of evil, but there may be other sources of evil as well. This gives us more room to move. Still, "the root of all evil" is a memorable phrase. And if money does not have an exclusive claim to being that root, what roots _can_ we trace evil back to? This is not merely a theoretical question. Evil is not theoretical, but real. We recently had that demonstrated to us in a very painful way in the form of the destruction of the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon, and the loss of thousands of lives in those attacks. For the families and friends of the victims, the evil of those deaths is very, very real. Even though some of us are now, two and a half weeks later, getting to the point where we can sometimes think about something else, for those who lost someone in the attack, it will take far longer. Evil is evil not merely because it violates some moral theory or religious law, but because it hurts. And the more pain and destruction it involves, the more evil it is. So what is the root of all evil? First of all, it is important to know that God is _not_ the source of evil. When God had finished the six days of creation, it says that "God saw all that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Whatever the appearances may be, everything that God feels, says, and does, is good. And just as evil is evil because it hurts and destroys, so good is good because it helps and builds up. This means that nothing God says or does is damaging and destructive; it is all constructive, and it all leads to healing and happiness. It is only when we are involved in evil and destructive things that the love and goodness which is God appears to our faulty vision as evil and destructive. And the Bible--which is always trying to reach us where we are--sometimes speaks in terms of those human appearances. This is why God is sometimes described as wrathful and destructive in the Bible. But in the deeper meaning, it is never so. In the Bible story, evil does not appear until after human beings are created. The first time something is pronounced "not good" is in Chapter 2, after God has placed the human being that he has created in the garden of Eden. And it is fascinating to notice that this pronouncement of something being "not good" comes after God has placed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden, and immediately after God commands the man not to eat from it. We read: The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden. But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone. . . ." (Genesis 2:15-18). Now I can already hear an objection to the statement that God does not do anything evil: "Didn't God create the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and put it in the garden? Aha! Got you there!" It is true that God created the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and placed it in the garden with Adam and Eve. But that, in itself, is not evil. On a practical level, there is no law saying that everything we see is meant to be eaten--even though babies of a certain age seem to _think_ that is a law! If God wanted to plant an ornamental tree in the garden, he certainly could do that. And if it was intended to be looked at and not eaten, then telling us not to eat it is simply doing us a favor, so that we don't have to learn the hard way. But there is a deeper reason God planted the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden. Though it isn't exactly a _root_ of evil, it is the reason why it is even possible for evil to exist. And paradoxically, the possibility of evil existing is actually a good thing. Why? To put it simply, without the possibility of evil, we would have only one choice: good. Obviously, having only one choice means that there is really no choice at all. And where there is no choice, there is no freedom. In placing the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden, God was saying to humanity: "You are free. You do not have to love and obey me if you don't want to. I will allow you to choose not to." And the existence of that choice is good. Because it means that if we _do_ choose to love and follow God, then our love is real, and we are following God because we want to. Without that freedom of choice, there can be no real relationship with God, nor can there be any real love. This is why God's placing the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden is not evil, but good. It gave us the freedom that makes us human. And with that freedom, God gave us the rationality to be able to consider the alternatives and make a choice--preferably for good. This freedom together with rationality is at the core of our humanity. Everything we do that is truly human is an exercise of our freedom and rationality. So although God did not create evil, God did create human beings with the inherent _possibility_ of turning to evil. And that is exactly what we did. The second important thing to understand is that evil is a purely human affair. Humans, and only humans, are capable of making spiritual, moral, and ethical choices. Therefore humans, and only humans, can create evil. This human-generated evil does get expressed in the world of nature both through our direct influence on our physical environment and through the combined spiritual influence of our evil, which molds and shapes the world of nature from within. But the world of nature itself, with all its intricate physical and biological patterns, is neither good nor evil. It simply is. Only humans can be said to be involved in evil. Because only humans have the higher, spiritual levels of consciousness where freedom and rationality reside, with their inherent possibility of choosing _not_ to do what is "natural," or good for us. Lower animals simply respond to various influences and experiences according to their instincts and training. We can choose to go outside of both, and do things that we were never created to do. And it is precisely when we do things we were never created or intended to do that we begin to bring evil into our lives and into our world. The first act of evil recorded in the Bible happened when Eve disobeyed a direct commandment of God and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yes, I know God gave that commandment to Adam before Eve was created. But aren't husbands and wives supposed to talk to each other? Besides, Eve's conversation with the serpent shows that she knew very well that she was not supposed to eat from that tree. She did it anyway. So did Adam. That was a choice for both of them. God gave them freedom to make choices, and they used that freedom to choose to do what was evil and harmful instead of what was good. And though they didn't literally die "on the day that they ate of it," they did experience an immediate psychological and spiritual death. It says, "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked." Adam and Eve had not known shame before. Now they did. And they sewed fig leaves together to make loincloths for themselves. There had been no shame in their nakedness before, but now there was. We have all had the same experience. We have all come to points in our lives at which we knew what was the right thing to do, and what was the wrong thing, and chose to do the wrong thing. And we have all felt the immediate sense of wrong and shame that came over us--even as we continued on the downward course that we had chosen. One of my more painful memories from childhood was a time at camp when I faced the choice of whether to go along with some of the other boys who were picking on a particular kid, or do what I knew was right by taking the risk of sticking up for him. I chose to pick on him along with the others. Something died in me right then. There was a loss of innocence and simple friendship, and a surrender to cruelty. Even though I later half-apologized to him, the damage was done. His time at camp that year was spoiled. And I had lost some of my self-respect and inner peace. I say "half-apologized" for a reason, since my "apology" was as much as excuse as an apology--a few fig leaves that I quickly sewed together to cover my shame. Each of us could tell similar stories, if we reflected a bit, of times when we have knowingly made the wrong choice, and suffered an inner death as a result. Each of us has disobeyed God and eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in our own way. What drives us to do that? Yes, our freedom enables us to choose, and thus create, evil. But what is the _root_ of evil? The Lord Jesus helps to clarify this in pointing out where evil comes from. Evil doesn't come from what goes into us from the people and the world around us. No, evil comes from inside of us. It comes from our "heart"--meaning our motivation, our desires, our will. It is when we start loving the wrong things for the wrong reasons that we twist into evil the original goodness that God created. The teachings of our church are very clear on just what gets out of order to twist goodness into evil. Jesus tells us that the most important commandments in all the Law and the Prophets are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31). And these very loves--love for the Lord and love for our neighbor--are the ones our teachings also say we must put first if we are to be good and not evil. In general, the other two things that we can love are the material world and ourselves. If we keep these secondary, then all is well. But when we put them first, this is exactly where evil enters into the picture. As we read earlier from Swedenborg: Human beings are born into the love of self and the love of the world, and from these as wellsprings, into evils of every kind. We are led by the pleasures of these loves, and these pleasures prevent us from knowing that we are involved in evil things; for we feel as good every pleasure that comes from love. So unless we are reborn, we know nothing but that loving ourselves and the material world above all things is goodness itself; and that ruling over all, and possessing the wealth of all other people, is the highest good. Yet this is the source of all evil. (_Divine Providence_ #83.2) When I picked on that kid, I was not loving my neighbor (that kid); I was loving myself and my own position with the other kids. And since I put myself first, I participated in doing evil. Whenever we put ourselves before God, and our own possessions and pleasure before love and compassion for our neighbor, we bring evil into our world, and into our own souls. We face this choice every day. Every day we see the Tree of Life in front of us, and also the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The choice is ours. And every day the Lord asks us to choose life by devoting ourselves to loving God and loving one another. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Sun Oct 7 17:47:54 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 13:47:54 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] God Will Wipe Away Every Tear Message-ID: <200110071348_MC3-E271-D5FA@compuserve.com> God Will Wipe Away Every Tear By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell October 7, 2001 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4) We do not live in a perfect world. While there is much joy and happiness, tears of sadness are shed every day. While there is much to rejoice in, there is also tragic death, sorrow, and crying. Human beings can be wonderfully caring and helpful and they can be horribly hateful and destructive. There is much for which we can be grateful and there is much that we can easily wish were different. There is a part of our perspective on life that strongly asserts that loving means protecting from harm and sadness. We can wonder why if the Lord God is all powerful, all knowing, and perfectly loving He hasn't created a world in which there is less harm and less sadness. Why doesn't He prevent the evil things that can occur? Some people look at tragic and harmful events in the same way that the disciples looked at the man who had been born stricken with blindness. They assumed it had to a punishment for someone's sin. They asked the Lord whether the sin was the man's or his parents. They assumed that it had to have been sent by God because He believed it was a just and appropriate consequence. The Lord answered that it wasn't the result of anyone's sin and stated that it occurred "that the works of God should be revealed in him." (John 9:3) The Lord then healed the blind man. The Lord never sends harm or punishment to anyone. He never desires that anyone should suffer. His effort is constantly one of trying to bring about healing and health. His effort is to bring as much happiness to each human being as that person can possibly receive. Part of the misery that exists in this world does so because people believe they are acting on behalf of God by seeking the harm, even horrendous pain, of others who are viewed as bad or evil. Such people feel completely justified in their terrible deeds because they believe God looks with anger and brings avenging punishment on people who do or say the wrong things, or even just belong to a different religion and call God by a different name. Some of the bloodiest conflicts have occurred with this perspective being held by both sides of the conflict. Some people think that God, because of His power, should always get His way and that everything should happen exactly as He would wish it to. But this is a flawed view of power and carries with it a flawed view of nature of true love. Do wisely loving parents have children, even very young children, who always do exactly what the parent wants them to do? Even more to the point, do wisely loving parents even try to make their children do everything as the parent would wish? They do not. Consider the qualities of true love such as the Lord has for us as these qualities are defined in the Writings of the New Church. There are three things which make up the essence of God's love - loving others than oneself, wishing to be one with them, and devoting oneself to their happiness . . . The first essential, loving others than oneself, is to be recognized in God's love toward the whole human race. On this account God loves everything He has created, because they are the means to an end, and if you love the end, you must love the means. Everyone and everything in the universe are other than God, because they are finite and God is infinite. God's love goes out and extends not only to good people and things, but also to evil people and things; consequently, not only to people and things in heaven, but also to people and things in hell, not only to Michael and Gabriel, but also to the Devil and Satan. For God is everywhere and from eternity to eternity the same. He says too that He makes His sun rise upon the good and the evil, and sends rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). But it is the fault of evil people and things that they are evil, because they do not receive God's love as it is, and as it most inwardly is, but as they are. It is the same as a thorn or a nettle receiving the heat of the sun or the rain. The second essential of God's love, wishing to be one with others, is to be recognized also in His joining Himself to the heaven of angels, the church on earth, to everyone in it, and to every good and truth which compose and make up men and the church. Love regarded in itself is nothing but a striving to be joined [in a close relationship of love]. Therefore to realize this essential of love God created each human being in His image and likeness, so that he could be linked with this. The third essential of God's love, to devote Himself to the happiness of others, is to be recognized in everlasting life, which is blessedness, bliss and happiness without end, which He gives to those who receive His love into themselves. For God, just as He is Love itself, is also blessedness itself. For every love breathes out an aura of joy from itself, and the Divine Love breathes out the very height of blessedness, bliss and happiness for ever; so God makes the angels and people after death happy from Himself, which He does by being conjoined with them. (True Christian Religion 43) The nature of the Lord's love can be seen from its reflection in wise love among human beings as spoken of in the following passage: Every person is created that he may live forever in a state of happiness. This follows as a consequence; for He who wills that each person should live forever also wills that he should live in a state of happiness. What would eternal life be without that? All love desires the good of another. The love of parents desires the good of their children; the love of the bridegroom and of the husband desires the good of the bride and of the wife; and friendship's love desires the good of friends. What then does the Divine Love not desire? What is good but delight? And what is Divine Good but eternal happiness? All good is called good from its delight or happiness. That which is given and possessed is indeed called good, but unless it is also delightful it is a barren good, not good in itself. Hence it is clear that eternal life is also eternal happiness. This state of a person is the end of creation; and it is not the Lord's fault but a person's that only those who enter heaven are in that state. (Divine Providence 324) Consider what would happen in this world if a mother watched over every tiny detail her daughter's life, hovering to prevent physical injury, to minimize mistreatment by others, to ensure that the daughter didn't make any choices that would bring sadness or harm to her. Would such a girl grow up healthy and happy? Or would she grow up feelings scared and incompetent and/or resentful and defiant of the mother's care? While we can see the need for human freedom, even the opportunity to make mistakes on an individual scale, when great tragedy strikes we can still wonder why the Lord didn't intervene to prevent it. We, of course, don't have any idea of how many tragedies the Lord does prevent. Nevertheless, if God was supposed to intervene to prevent great harm, how small would a tragedy or disaster have to be before God, as it were, let it go and allowed it to happen? Given His infinite power, presence, and knowledge, He is capable of directing the tiniest part of our lives. He could control us like robots if He wanted to. He could send instant pain the moment we contemplated doing something harmful. If He operated the universe in this way our lives would not be blessed, but instead we would be in nearly constant dread of being zapped for reasons we sometimes wouldn't even understand. It should be quite clear that the Lord does not want terrible tragedies or the horror of war to occur. It is not from the Divine Providence that wars occur, because they involve murders, plunderings, violence, cruelties and other terrible evils which are diametrically opposed to Christian charity. Still they cannot but be permitted because, since the time of the most ancient human beings . . . people's life's love has become such that it wills to rule over others, and finally over all; and also to possess the wealth of the world, and finally all wealth. These two loves cannot be kept in fetters, for it is according to the Divine Providence that everyone is allowed to act from freedom in accordance with reason; and [if evil was not permitted] a person cannot be led from it by the Lord, and consequently cannot be reformed and saved. For unless evils were allowed to break out, people would not see them and therefore would not acknowledge them, and thus could not be induced to resist them. This is the reason why evils cannot be repressed by any act of Providence; for if they were they would remain shut in, and like a disease, such as cancer and gangrene, they would spread and consume everything vital in a person. (Divine Providence 251) It is the Lord's constant desire to bring about our spiritual improvement. It is His constant desire to bring us to that state of life that is reflected in the word of the book of Revelation. "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4) But this will not take place with a person until the previous statement has also been fulfilled. "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God." (Revelation 21:3) To receive the happiness and peace that the Lord wants for each of us, we must freely invite Him into our lives. We invite the Lord in by learning what He teaches and trying to live according to His commands with His help. It will not take place in a moment or with a single decision. The Lord will gradually lead us to see the evil loves and false ideas that we've held as good and true and as our own. He will lead us to see them and to recognize that we want these things far from our intentions, thoughts, words, and deeds. As we flee from these destructive qualities, allow ourselves to be turned to the Lord. So far as people shun evils as sins and turn away from them, they cast them out from themselves to the hell from which they come. Everyone knows, or may know, that evil originates from hell and that good is from heaven. Consequently, everyone may know that so far as a person shuns evil and turns away from it so far he shuns and turns away from hell. So, too, the person may know that so far as anyone shuns evil and turns away from it so far he wills and loves good; and consequently so far is he brought out of hell by the Lord and led to heaven. These things every rational person may see, provided he knows that there is a heaven and a hell and that evil and good are from their own respective sources. Now if a person reflects upon the evils in himself, which is the same thing as examining himself, and shuns them, he then frees himself from hell and casts it behind him, and introduces himself into heaven where he sees the Lord face to face. It is stated that a person does this, but he does it as of himself, and then from the Lord. Divine Providence 321 This work of spiritual growth is one that must be pursued by each individual. While we can know that it will lead to our own improvement, our own growing trust, peace, and happiness we can still look out at the world and feel sorry for all the harmful and destructive things that occur. We can sometimes sense that too few care about the Lord and what He teaches. But there is much that we can do for good even for those who don't have much of a belief in God and are highly unlikely to read His Word. Consider the promise carried with these words, read as one of the lessons: "And the leaves of the tree were medicine to heal the nations," means rational truths from the Word, by which people who are in evil loves and from this think false ideas are led to think soundly, and to live becomingly. "The leaves of the tree" mean rational truths. "The nations" mean people who are in evil loves and from this think false ideas, because it is said, "for their medicine," and they who are in evil loves and from this think false ideas cannot be healed by the Word, because they do not read it; but if they have sound judgment, they can be healed by rational truths. (Apocalypse Revealed 936) We can help the Lord guide people to a better life and help make this world a better place if we do what we can to share the sensible, understandable ideas that the Lord has given us. We can speak of them, essentially as common sense, with people who aren't believers. They can recognize their value and be helped to make wiser and more useful choices. Think of the improvements that could exist in this world from a broader awareness of these rational ideas? We do not live in a perfect world. There will be times that we mourn the impact of evil on ourselves and those whom we care about. But may we know for sure that the Lord does not send this evil as punishment. May we be sure that its occurrence is not due to the Lord's inattention or lack of concern. May we do what we can to grow spiritually as individuals. May we seek to help this world be the best it can be and may we look forward with hope and trust to that better world the Lord has prepared for us. AMEN. Lessons: John 9:1-8, Revelation 21:1-4, All rational people, as soon as they hear it, acknowledge the truth that evil cannot flow from good nor good from evil, because they are opposites; consequently, that from good nothing comes forth but good, and from evil nothing but evil. When this truth is acknowledged, it is also acknowledged that good can be turned into evil not by a good but by an evil recipient; for every form converts into its own quality what flows into it. Now since the Lord is Good in its very essence, or Good itself, it is evident that evil cannot flow from Him or be produced by Him; but that good can be turned into evil by the recipient subject whose form is a form of evil. Such a subject is a person as to his own [life, separate from the Lord], which continually receives good things from the Lord and continually turns it into the nature of its own form, which is a form of evil. Hence it follows that each human being is in fault if he or she is not saved. Evil is indeed from hell; but as a person receives it from hell as his own, and thereby appropriates it to himself, therefore it is the same whether it is said that evil is from a person or from hell. Divine Providence 327 "And the leaves of the tree were medicine to heal the nations," means rational truths from the Word, by which people who are in evil loves and from this think false ideas are led to think soundly, and to live becomingly. "The leaves of the tree" mean rational truths. "The nations" mean people who are in evil loves and from this think false ideas, because it is said, "for their medicine," and they who are in evil loves and from this think false ideas cannot be healed by the Word, because they do not read it; but if they have sound judgment, they can be healed by rational truths. Apocalypse Revealed 936 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible, are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Oct 15 13:30:47 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 09:30:47 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] "Ishmael: Man of Contention, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011015092802.01bfd420@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Ishmael: Man of Contention By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, October 14, 2001 Readings Genesis 16:1-4, 11, 12: The birth of Ishmael Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave girl whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram, "You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. . . . And the angel of the Lord said to Hagar, "Now you have conceived and will bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and he will live at odds with all his kin." Matthew 5:43-48: Love your enemies You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Arcana Coelestia #1949: The character of Ishmael "He will be a wild donkey of man" means rational truth, which is described here. This is clear from the meaning of a wild donkey, which is rational truth. In the Bible, horses, horsemen, mules, and donkeys are mentioned many times, but no one up to now has known that they mean intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and factual knowledge. . . . Belonging to the same group is the wild donkey, which is a mule living in the desert, or a donkey in the wild. It stands for our rationality--not our rationality in its entirety, but only rational truth. Our rationality is composed of both goodness and truth, or of things relating to kindness and of things relating to faith. It is rational truth that is meant by a wild donkey. This is what Ishmael represents, and what is described in this verse. . . . People whose rationality consists only of truth--even though it is truth that comes from faith--and not of the good of charity also, are of this character. They are quick to find fault, make no allowances, are against all, regard everyone as being in error, are instantly prepared to rebuke, chasten, and punish, show no pity, and put no effort or energy into redirecting people's minds. They view everything from the standpoint of truth, and nothing from the standpoint of goodness. In short, they are hard people. The one thing that can soften their hardness is the good of kindness; for goodness is the soul of truth. When goodness draws near and plants itself within truth, then the truth becomes so different that it can hardly be recognized. Sermon And the angel of the Lord said to Hagar, "Now you have conceived and will bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and he will live at odds with all his kin." (Genesis 16:11, 12) Last week, while I was away staffing a wonderful Youth Retreat at Blairhaven Retreat Center, Kelly Milne spoke about the rainbow, and how the story of Noah and the animals cooped up in the ark, with that beautiful rainbow at the end, can picture our own journeys in life--how we question ourselves as we go along and wonder whether we are getting anywhere, only to find that God has known where we are going along, and has a beautiful promise for us once we have made it through our difficult passages. After the story of Noah and the ark, there is the strange story of Noah getting drunk and cursing of his son Ham. Then, following a chapter of genealogy, is the famous story of the Tower of Babel, and the Lord confusing the people's language and scattering them around the earth. Though the people represented by Noah started out with the right intentions, it was not long before they were derailed also into foolish and selfish ways of living. Up to this point (Genesis chapter 11), Swedenborg tells us, the Bible story is made of pure symbolism, or "correspondences," and not of literal history. With the Call of Abram in Chapter 12, and the events just before it, we enter into something like literal history, and also start a new phase in humanity's development. Abram (later renamed Abraham) was a man who obeyed God without question, even if it seemed that doing so would be quite painful or harmful to himself. When God told him to leave his own people and go to a new land with which he was unfamiliar, and where he knew no one, he simply got up and went. And later, when he heard God as commanding him to sacrifice his only son by his true wife Sarah (whose name had earlier been Sarai), he simply took the boy and prepared to carry out that command--until the angel of the Lord stopped him. With Abram, we move into a period of life in which we are primarily motivated not by love and by God's living presence, as the earliest people, represented by Adam and Eve were; and not by understanding and spiritual intelligence, as the people represented by Noah and his descendants were; but by simple trust in and obedience to the Lord. And Abram, as the earliest beginnings of this new period, represented trust and obedience in its purest form: a spontaneous, childlike trust and obedience that lasted only as long as Abram himself did. Even when we start out wishing simply to follow wherever God leads us, it isn't long before our own ideas begin to assert themselves, and we start thinking things out and wanting to figure out the best way for ourselves rather than simply doing it God's way right from the start. And as a stage of development, this is not a bad thing. God does not want mindless, thoughtless followers, but people who understand and appreciate God's ways, and follow them out of understanding and wisdom rather than blind and unthinking faith. And just as learning to walk involves some falls and bruises, so developing our ability to rationally understand spiritual things involves some early unsuccessful attempts. Ishmael, as Abram's firstborn (but not by his wife Sarai) symbolizes those first headstrong but faulty attempts to think for ourselves. Specifically, as we learn from _Arcana Coelestia_ #1949, Ishmael represents our early sense of "truth and justice" before it is tempered by mercy and kindness toward our fellow human beings. In the Bible story, this is expressed by the character of Ishmael as foretold by the angel of the Lord to his mother Hagar before he was born: "He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and he will live at odds with all his kin." Swedenborg fleshes out this character in our reading from the _Arcana:_ People whose rationality consists only of truth--even though it is truth that comes from faith--and not of the good of charity also, are of this character. They are quick to find fault, make no allowances, are against all, regard everyone as being in error, are instantly prepared to rebuke, chasten, and punish, show no pity, and put no effort or energy into redirecting people's minds. They view everything from the standpoint of truth, and nothing from the standpoint of goodness. In short, they are hard people. Does this sound like anyone you know? People who know the "truth," and can quote it chapter and verse, but who seem more interested in using that "truth" to condemn everyone around them than to help them, show kindness to them, or encourage them toward a happier and more thoughtful way of being? Sometimes, I'm afraid, it sounds just like me! I can remember one of my own Ishmael stages all too clearly when, as a teenager, I knew everything that was wrong with everyone around me, and told them all about it in no uncertain terms! I was against everyone, and everyone was against me--or so it seemed to me at the time. Looking back on it, I'm amazed that my family and friends put up with me at all. Even today, that old Ishmael in me comes out more often than I'd like to admit, and I fall right back into thinking I'm right and they're wrong, and that's all there is to it. I know I'm not alone in this. Most of us, I suspect, went through a time period in our childhood or youth when we were convinced that we were the only one who _really_ knew which way was up, and everyone else (especially our parents!) was way out in left field. And I suspect that most of us still have our times when we get a little too sure of our own rightness, without stopping to think of the other person's feelings. When we're in this state of mind, we're likely to put down others in our own mind, or even openly attack them. This character of putting down those whom we don't consider to be at our level of intelligence or sophistication, or even of spiritual advancement, is illustrated by an incident a little later in Genesis (Chapter 21), after Isaac has been born. On the day of little Isaac's weaning, Abraham held a great feast. But Ishmael apparently went too far. Sarah saw him laughing, probably at her son Isaac. The Hebrew isn't clear, but that's the impression we get, since Sarah promptly went to Abraham and demanded that he expel Hagar and Ishmael from their household. Abraham reluctantly did so. This is followed by a touching story of Hagar and Ishmael wandering in the desert, only to be rescued by an angel of the Lord. In just this way, when we get self-righteous and start looking down on others, we generally end out in our own emotionally arid desert of isolation. When we approach others sure that we are right and they are wrong, without considering that the most important thing is not being right, but being kind and good, we get into all kinds of contentious situations. When we're sure we are right and other people are wrong, we are apt to find fault with them for every little thing, showing very little courtesy or compassion in our words and actions. This grows very old very fast with the people on the receiving end. Pretty soon they will start pushing us away at best, or at worst responding with counter-attacks of their own. As with Ishmael, when we see only the truth, and do not stop to consider the good of kindness, before long "our hand is against everyone and everyone's hand is against us, and we are living at odds with all of our kin." How many family quarrels and feuds can be traced back to just this attitude on the part of the various family members? Of course, from Ishmael's perspective he had every reason to want to mock Isaac. Wasn't Isaac the one who took away Ishmael's honored position as Abraham's firstborn simply by the act of being born? Ishmael had occupied that position for thirteen years before Isaac came along and ruined it all for him. And now he probably felt he that had a right to be angry and bitter, and to lash out--right when everyone else was celebrating--at the little upstart who had dethroned him. This is how the world looks to us when we are caught in that truth-only, unloving, us-against-them mentality. And it is the reason why both literally and spiritually, Ishmael had to give way to Isaac as the heir to Abraham's legacy. Ishmael, the man of contention, could not carry on where Abraham left off. Someone with a more yielding and contemplative personality had to take on that mantle. That someone was Isaac. Later in the Bible story (Genesis 37), instead of fighting for land and wells against those that he could have made into his sworn enemies, Isaac simply went and found other land and dug other wells. Because of his non-contentious character, Isaac ended out living at peace even with those who had formerly been jealous of him and quarreled with him. In fact, when they saw how the Lord had blessed him, they came to him and asked him to make a treaty of peace with them. In the same way that Ishmael gave way to Isaac, we are called by God to leave behind our headstrong, thoughtless, and unkind attitudes, along with the arguments and conflicts with others that these get us into. We are called to leave behind the so-called "common sense" view of the world in which we feel we must fight against everyone we see as an enemy, and do our best to assert our own rights and our own righteousness against anyone who hurts or disrespects us in any way. We are called, instead, to follow a higher path of _spiritual_ rationality symbolized by the milder and more politic character of Isaac. To the worldly mind, this looks like sure suicide. "If we don't fight back against those who attack us," they say, "they'll see us as weak, and will attack us more and more boldly until they destroy us." When we are in this mindset, it is hard for us to hear the words of the Lord in our reading from Matthew: You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. In Luke, it is made still more explicit: I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. And from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you, and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:27-31) This is truly a hard saying! Do good to those who hate us and bless those who curse us? Offer the other cheek when someone strikes us? Give them the shirt off our back? What kind of sense does this make? If we acted in that way, the world would rob us blind! That is how it looks to those caught up in the worldly reasoning represented by Ishmael. But those who have actually _lived_ in this way, although have they certainly had their stripes to bear, have had a more powerful effect for good in this world than all the empires based on "might makes right" that the world has ever produced. I think especially of Gandhi, a small, barefoot man who defeated the British empire, the greatest military power in the world at the time, without ever firing a shot. He did it by the pure power of an idea applied: non-violent non-cooperation. Under the force of Gandhi's moral stance consistently and bravely carried out, the British were finally compelled by their own re-awakened sense of morality--not to mention the increasing unprofitability of their system of colonial rule in India once the Indian people stopped cooperating with it--to lay down the armaments in which they had trusted, and grant independence to India. On a far smaller and more personal scale, I think of a time in grade school when I was accosted by the schoolyard bully. He had just kicked a ball across the playground, and ordered me to run and get it for him. I knew that if I did so, I would become his slave. So I refused. He rushed at me, ready to be the enforcer. I knew that I was no match for him in a fistfight. Besides, I had no interest in fighting him. What good would that accomplish? Still, the only alternatives seemed to be either to fight or to flee, neither of which I liked. As he came at me with fists raised, ready to beat me up, I got an inspiration that must have come from my guardian angel. Instead of either fighting or fleeing away, I "hugged" him. But I didn't think of it as a hug at the time. As he approached me, instead of running away or putting up my dukes, I went toward him quickly, grabbed him around the middle, and pulled him down. I then held onto him tenaciously and we rolled around on the ground for a while. With me at such close quarters, and both my body and the ground hampering his movements, he couldn't get in a solid swing at me. For my part, I wasn't interested in hitting him. I just wanted to keep him from hitting me. It wasn't long before got tired of this scene. It wasn't doing any good for his reputation as the playground tough guy! Once it became clear to me that he had lost interest in this fight, I let go of him, and he just got up and walked away. And he never bothered me again. Now, at that time of my life, I didn't have a well-developed theory of non-violent non-cooperation. I was mostly just trying to save my skin! Whatever my reasons, it worked. A situation that could have turned into a bruising fight ended in a de facto state of peace between me and the schoolyard bully. Looking back on it, I realize that this happened because by the grace of God, I acted with some thoughtfulness, and from a desire to avoid aggression while still asserting my own right to live free from fear and oppression. In every situation we face, there is a decision. Will we argue and fight back, acting in a defensive and contentious way, relying on our inner Ishmael? Or will we look for the way of understanding and acceptance, of turning the other cheek and returning good for evil, calling up our inner Isaac? Perhaps there are times when we _must_ fight. But I believe these situations are few and far between. Most of the battles we must wage are _inward_ ones, against our own faulty attitudes and feelings. In our relations with others, the way of the warrior--Ishmael's way--must yield to Isaac's way of "seeking peace and pursuing it" (Psalm 34:14). To the world, Isaac's way seems like folly and sure death. But as followers of Christ, we are called to rise above worldly reasoning and see things from a higher, spiritual light. If we follow that light, we will find that it leads not to death, but to life forever. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Tue Oct 30 13:20:54 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 08:20:54 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "And They Lived Happily Ever After," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011030082000.022ee630@pop.ne.mediaone.net> And They Lived Happily Ever After By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, October 21, 2001 Readings Genesis 24:54-67: Isaac and Rebekah When they got up the next morning, Abraham's servant said, "Send me on my way to my master." But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go." But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master." Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it." So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?" "I will go," she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies." Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" "He is my master," the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Mark 10:2-9: Divorce and marriage Some Pharisees came and tested Jesus by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" "What did Moses command you?" he replied. They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let humans not separate." Love in Marriage #180: The attributes of marital love The characteristics of marital love are innocence, peace, tranquillity, deep friendship, full confidence, and a desire in heart and soul to do everything good for each other. From all these things come blessedness, happiness, joy, passion, and from the eternal enjoyment of these, heavenly bliss. Sermon Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married her. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. (Genesis 24:67) I have a pet peeve about the love stories in popular movies and novels. We could call it the "and-they-lived-happily-ever-after complex." Everyone knows that the most popular ending for fairy tales is, "And they lived happily ever after." In the fairy tales, the routine goes like this: The story opens with "Once upon a time. . . ." Then the characters are introduced, and they go on to get into various kinds of adventures and troubles. Finally, their troubles are resolved, their adventure ends in success, and . . . they live happily ever after. This is also the most common format for love stories in popular movies and novels. As the late Rev. Leslie Marshall put it, nearly all love stories are based on the principle, "Boy meets girl, boy and girl separate, boy and girl join again and are married." Sometimes the separation is emotional rather than physical; often it is both physical and emotional. Whichever way, this pattern is followed in thousands and thousands of love stories. Of course, for children, a happy ending is nice. It conveys the idea that even if we have to go through a lot of trouble and hardship, things will work out in the end. And even though that is often not the case in the material world, from a spiritual perspective, unless we willfully choose to turn our backs on God and our neighbor, things will work out in the end: no matter what pain and struggle we have to suffer through here, we will find happiness as angels in heaven. And I suppose that adults, too, need continual reassurance that things will work out in the end. Hence the popularity of happy endings in adult fiction. But here's my pet peeve: over and over again, the love stories in popular movies and fiction are all about the boy getting the girl and the girl getting the boy. Over and over again, we're treated to the good-looking young guy pursuing the beautiful young gal, and all their misadventures and misunderstandings along the way, until finally the story comes to its uplifting climax when they fall madly in love, smother one another with passionate kisses and embraces, and--if a "traditional" ending is wanted--meet at the altar to the strains of the organ and depart arm in arm in a snowstorm of confetti. And, we are left to assume, they live happily ever after. The problem is, it doesn't quite work that way. As exciting and powerful as falling in love can be, when a couple has fallen in love and gotten married, that is the beginning of the story, not the end. Only in the movies do we see the confetti flying around the beaming couple as they emerge from the church, and immediately segue to the closing credits. In real life, the couple generally heads off on a honeymoon, and pretty soon they're back at home beginning the everyday business of getting along with one another. This can be, and usually is, a lot of work. Soon each partner's rough edges begin to show, and that wonderful "soul mate" turns out to be made not of soul only, but of all sorts of attitudes, desires, feelings, and beliefs, some of which may turn out to be quite annoying, or worse. Yes, the wedding day is only the beginning of the story. "Ever after" comes the much less exciting job of actually living together and building a relationship day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year. In this way, it is very much like the Christian idea of being "born again." There seem to be a number of Christians who think that once you're "saved" by being born again, that's the end of the story. Everything else, apparently is the closing credits, because the climax has already happened. Yet if we look at the physical process of birth, from which being spiritually born again derives its symbolism, we find that although birth is indeed the climax of nine months of gestation in the womb, it is still only a beginning in the story of a human being's life. A whole lifetime stretches out in front of the newborn baby! When Patty was carrying Heidi, our firstborn, and we were reading all the birth books, just as you're supposed to, a friend of ours who had several children of her own gave us some wise advice. "Don't forget," she said, "that the birth lasts only a few hours, but you'll be taking care of that baby for years and years. While you're reading all those books on childbirth, be sure you learn something how to take care of the baby after it's born!" Thousands of books and movies give us just about every conceivable variation of how couples can fall in love. But as nice as that is, it doesn't mean a lot if the resulting marriages soon break up in bitterness and pain. We have many models in our society of how to fall in love; we have very few about how to _be_ in love. And even fewer about how to _grow_ in love. (One example that does come to mind is the TV comedy "Mad About You.") Considering how important an issue our love life is for us humans, we would think that the Bible would say a lot about love and marriage. But there is really very little direct instruction in the Bible on the subject. Yes, there are Jesus' statements about marriage, adultery, and divorce. And there are many laws in the Old Testament Levitical code about various sexual relations that are and are not allowed. There is the ancient book "Song of Solomon," which is a poetic expression of the love between a man and a woman. But for the most part, the Bible's "instruction" about love and marriage comes in the form of telling the stories of various couples as their lives intertwine with the Bible's storyline. And we are left to glean what wisdom we can from those stories--and turn to other sources to come to a deeper understanding of the realities of marriage. Of course, one of those sources is the book _Love in Marriage_, by Emanuel Swedenborg--which is both one of his more popular books and one of his more controversial books. I would recommend a thoughtful reading of it, especially to anyone who is either moving toward marriage or who is involved in a marriage. While some of the gender roles and social customs described in the book draw on Swedenborg's culture of over two hundred years ago, the deeper, spiritual principles that shine through are timeless. Back to the Bible, the story of Isaac and Rebekah, which we read a short piece of earlier, is one of the more endearing love stories in the Bible. We did not take the time to read all of Genesis 24 from the beginning, which tells the wonderful story of how the aged Abraham's chief steward went back to his extended family's home about four hundred miles northeast in Haran, and led by the Lord, found Rebekah, the young woman who would be Isaac's wife. After the steward brings Rebekah back, we have the understated conclusion, "Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." This is about as close as the Bible comes to saying, "And they lived happily ever after." As a pattern for us to follow, there are some problems with the story of how Isaac and Rebekah met and were married. Not many of us, for example, would be happy to have our parents--let along our parents' hired hand--choose the person we will marry. We prefer to choose our own partner, thank you. And yet, there is an element in the story that is just as critical to a happy and lasting marriage now as it was then. Really, it was neither Abraham nor his steward who picked out a wife for Isaac. Yes, they both had an important part in it: Abraham sent his steward on a journey to get a wife for his son from his own people, and the steward did his master's bidding. Yet just before he successfully made contact with Isaac's bride-to-be, he prayed to the Lord. And it was the steward's reliance on the Lord's guidance that enabled him to achieve success in his mission. The one who really chooses the right partner for us--if, indeed, we find the right one--is the Lord. In fact, the Lord has these things in preparation under Providence for years and years before we ever actually meet our "soul mate." The Lord is preparing us for one another even before birth. And as we make various choices and take various directions in our life, the Lord is always working to provide us, sooner or later, with just the right person to share our life with. But even more important than _finding_ the right person is _being_ the right person. When we get married, we live at very close quarters with our partner. And even if we find the theoretical "right one," if we are too wrapped up in ourselves and too oblivious to the needs and the happiness of our partner, our marriage will soon be headed for the rocks. A full discussion of preparation for marriage is far more than we can do in our brief time together this morning. I will leave you with just one thought that is the most important part of a working, growing, loving marriage. Isaac and Rebekah's marriage worked over time because they had a critical ingredient for marriage: a willingness to follow where the Lord led them. As soon as Rebekah heard the story of Abraham's steward, she knew, along with her family, that this matter had come from God. And when asked whether she would go with the man--on very short notice--she said, without hesitation, "I will go." And what was Isaac doing when the woman who would soon be his wife first approached his home? He was out in the fields meditating. Isaac's whole life is the story of a man who was willing to be led by the Lord, and to live at peace with his fellow human beings. Whether we are looking toward marriage or living in marriage, there is only one way to live happily ever after: we must listen to what the Lord is saying to us, and follow it. If we do this, although we will certainly still have struggles, disappointments, pains, and setbacks in our relationships, we will be laying the foundation for an eternally happy marriage. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Tue Oct 30 17:42:06 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 12:42:06 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] Using the Lord's Creation Message-ID: <200110301242_MC3-E518-BDA3@compuserve.com> Using the Lord's Creation By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell October 28, 2001 The earth is the Lord's . . . Psalm 24:1 According to a perspective that was very common 250 years ago, last Tuesday (October 23, 2001) was the 6005th anniversary of the beginning of creation. According to this view the first chapter of Genesis is a literal and completely accurate historical account of the beginning of all things. Bibles at that time commonly had dates in bold scarlet in margins. Next to the first verses of Genesis the date, 4004 B.C., would have been listed. This calculation was established by an Irish Bishop, James Ussher, in the early 17th century. Millions of Christian fundamentalists still hold to this view of the first chapter of Genesis. For many, the only alternative view seems to be that there is no God, no purpose, no life after death. But we do not have to adopt either position. The Writings of the New Church invites us to view the stories that open Genesis as parables that shed light on the spiritual development of each human being, and of the spiritual development of the human race in its beginnings. But while the literal images of the creation story do not provide a defensible explanation of creation, there is an underlying idea conveyed in their words which is absolutely correct. The Lord did create and does create and sustain everything that makes up the natural world in which we live. It is important for us to acknowledge and believe that all things that the Lord created have a good purpose. All things that exist, even those that are disorderly, have a use or purpose. All that we see around us has a reason for existing. We live in the natural universe with its qualities of fixed time and place, with all of its wonders, its everyday elements, and its qualities that can fill us with sadness or horror. This world has many of its qualities because the purpose of our natural lives is that we are to establish our eternal character by making choices. Day in and day out we are choosing all sorts of things. What to do and not do, what to say and not say. At times we consciously or unconsciously choose to let external circumstances determine what we do. But even this is a choice. What we think, say, or do is important because each of these is an expression of some value or desire that we have. Stated in black and white terms, we can choose to love and obey the Lord and we can choose a life that fundamentally denies Him and the order He has created. We can choose to live a life that cares for the people around us or we can be crudely self-centered or materialistic. Upon considering these contrasting positions we often find ourselves with mixed motives or feeling somewhere in the middle between what is good and what is evil. The Lord created this world as a place of choice. His hope is that we will freely choose to turn to Him, to love what He loves, and to live according to the order that leads to usefulness and happiness. More than anything else though, He ensures that we are to be free to choose what values we will hold and seek to embody in our daily choices. This world is created with the necessity of choice being forced on us. There are finite limits to everything in our experience--limits of time, distance, energy, and resources. We know we can't do everything. We know we are called to choose good and not evil, but even here there are so many good and useful things we could do each day we have to choose some. A person who was bedridden might decide that the most useful thing he could do was spend a part of his day in quiet prayer reflecting on the needs and hopes of others. As he turns his mind to the community of people he knows and especially if he includes the people and events he hears about in the news he could find that he hardly has the waking time to accomplish his task. Each of us has to focus on what we can do that best serve the goals that we seek to accomplish. We also face limits on a larger scale than just our own personal lives. This natural universe and the earth that we live on are the Lord's. This earth is created for human beings. It has served them as home in the past, does so for billions today, and is to serve for billions of billions in the future. We are stewards of this world. What we as a human race do today will affect the quality of the world that future generations have to live in. This world is an amazing creation. If we have open eyes and a willing heart, we can see the hand of a loving heavenly Father in so many of its qualities. It is remarkably durable in some ways and very delicate in others. In the last several decades we have been learning in so many ways how the Lord has created it as a complex interconnected system which maintains a dynamic balance. The power and complexity of its ecological systems have many times humbled us. Over and over again, human beings have affected some change that was thought to be all for the better only to discover that there were ramifications of their choices far beyond what they ever considered. For example, there have been times when a pest or predator species has been drastically reduced or eliminated in an area and only years later the importance and use of that species to the welfare of many other aspects of the ecology of that area has become evident. Happily the Lord has made this world with remarkable self-correcting and self-cleaning qualities. But we also know that there are limits to the earth's ability to maintain its balance. The earth is not that much different from our natural bodies in this regard. The Lord has created our bodies such that they adapt to wide variations in eating, sleeping, and exercise. Our bodies can take limited amounts of potentially harmful food or conditions and not suffer lasting damage. It is remarkably resilient but when it gets out of balance there can be catastrophic results. For example, our natural bodies require us to consume and retain a certain amount of water on a regular basis. We can get this water in part through the food we eat, through many liquids we can drink. Usually it is not something we pay any attention to. But in Third World countries one of the highest causes of infant mortality is severe dehydration brought on by an intestinal bug from drinking unhealthy water. Because the intestinal bug keeps these little ones from being able to adequately absorb the water they drink they can rapidly die. Another example is our bodies' ability to adapt to extremes of heat and cold. While we may not like these extremes, for most of us, with a little care, whether it is above 90 or below 0 we can continue to function and remain healthy. But in those same conditions people also die of overheating or becoming severely cold. Our bodies can adapt only so far. This is part of the finite quality the Lord intended in this natural world. When a person's body does reach the limit of its ability to adapt and becomes seriously out of balance it can have terribly harmful even deadly consequences. Our bodies can quietly and invisibly work to cope with a problem, giving us little indication of stress being produced, until the problem overwhelms the system's ability to adapt. At times the result is major and sudden systemic failure. We know this is true of the world we live in. The earth is the Lord's. He has created it as temporary home for human beings as they are choosing the qualities that will define their eternal lives. This world adapts to a remarkable number of things but there are also limits to this ability to adapt and self-clean. We need not envision an ultimate catastrophe to be concerned about this issue. We can simply want to hand over to future generations an earth that has so many of the blessings we love and benefit from. We can be concerned for the welfare of this earth for many reasons. We can be concerned on a civil basis because we believe in obedience to the laws of our country. We can be concerned on a moral basis because we care about the world we all share now and what we will pass on to our descendants. And we can care on a spiritual basis because we recognize the Lord's presence and purpose in qualities and features. All things that the Lord created He created for a purpose. The usefulness of anything including each of us depends on how well we serve to cooperate with His purposes. Our cooperation determines not only our usefulness but also our happiness and the fundamental quality of our lives. The Lord has told us that, "the happiness of the angels consists in use, from use, and according to use" (Arcana Caelestia 454) and that "life is imparted by the Lord from use, by way of use, and according to use." (Arcana Caelestia 503) In the book, Conjugial Love, it is stated: . . . the whole of heaven is viewed by the Lord as a world of useful service, and angels are angels according to the service they render. The pleasure in being useful carries them along, like a boat in a favoring current, bringing them into a state of eternal peace and the rest that comes with peace. (Conjugial Love 207:7) What constitutes a misuse or waste of this world's resources? What would be a waste of energy or materials? What would be the benefits and the consequences of specific choices? The reason the Lord created this world is that He wants us to freely choose the life that leads to heaven. Any choice that contributes to that goal is truly useful. Any choice that doesn't and even leads us away from heaven is destructive and evil. The material things that surround us aren't in themselves intrinsically good or evil. It is how we use them and even more so WHY we use them the way we do. The Lord has given us remarkable latitude in how we live our lives. Perhaps you are familiar with what the Lord has said in the book, Heaven and Hell, about how it can be perfectly allowable to enjoy so many qualities of this world. . . . a person may acquire riches and accumulate wealth as far as opportunity is given, if it is not done by devious or deceitful means; that he may enjoy delicious food and drink if he does live for these things; that he may maintain as large a home as he can reasonably afford, have conversation with others similar to himself, frequent places of amusement, talk about the affairs of the world, and need not go about like a devotee with a sad and sorrowful countenance and drooping head, but may be joyful and cheerful; nor need he give his goods to the poor except so far as affection leads him; in a word, he may live outwardly precisely like a worldly person; and all this will be no obstacle to his entering heaven, provided that inwardly in himself he thinks about God as he ought, and acts sincerely and justly in respect to his neighbor. (Heaven and Hell 358) The Lord wants us to have a happy life. But fundamental happiness will come from the way we wisely use the time, energy, and resources around us. It won't come from or be absolutely prevented by what we own or don't own, by whether we have certain options to do this or that particular thing. All of us in this congregation have discretionary time and resources that far exceeds what most people in this world experience. Looking over our shoulder's much of the world's population would see us as incredibly wealthy and powerful. But we know all too well that this perspective doesn't necessarily add to contentment or happiness. Some of the richest people are among the most unhappy. The earth is the Lord's. Everything that He has created can be useful often in many different ways. As you go about living your life today may you reflect on the wonder of creation. May you see something of its incredibly complex system of useful parts, interrelated, and serving each other. All of them working together to provide a world in which you and I can live, that new human beings can be born in and make their essential choices that lead to a dwelling place in heaven or in hell. The earth is the Lord's. May we pray for the understanding and the desire to care for it wisely. AMEN. Lessons: Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 24:1-2 The universe, with all things in general and in particular within it, was created from the Divine Love by means of the Divine Wisdom. . . . This idea can be confirmed from all things in the world that may be examined by the eye. Take any object in particular and examine it with some degree of intelligence, and you will be convinced. Take a tree, or its seed, its fruit, its flower or its leaf, and, summoning what wisdom you have, view it with a powerful microscope, and you will see wonderful things; yet there are more interior things, which you do not see, still more wonderful. Observe the order, step by step, in which the tree grows from the seed till it produces new seed; and consider whether there is not in every step a continuous effort to reproduce itself; for the goal which it tends toward is seed, in which its fruitfulness is renewed. Then if you will but reflect upon this spiritually also, and this you can do if you please, will you not see wisdom displayed? Moreover, if you will reflect deeply enough from the spiritual point of view, you will see that this fruitfulness is not from the seed, nor from the sun of this world which is pure fire, but that it is in the seed from God the Creator, to whom belongs infinite Wisdom. You will see that it is present not only at creation but also continuously afterwards . . . Examine also any other object on the earth, such as a silk-worm, a bee, or any other tiny creature, and view it first naturally, afterwards rationally, and finally spiritually. Then if you can raise your thoughts to a high level, you will be astonished at all you perceive; and if you permit wisdom to speak in you, you will say in astonishment, "Who does not see the Divine in these things? They are all the work of Divine Wisdom." Still more will this be the case if you observe the uses of all the things which have been created, noting how they proceed in their own order right up to human beings, and from human beings to the Creator from whom they are; and that from the conjunction of the Creator with the human race the connection of all things depends, and, if you will acknowledge it, the preservation of all things. Divine Providence 3 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Nov 5 13:12:29 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 08:12:29 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Storing Up for the Lean Times," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011105081142.023f0d00@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Storing Up for the Lean Times By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, November 4, 2001 Readings: Genesis 41:46-57: Storing up grain for the famine Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance--like the sand of the sea--that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure. Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house." The second he named Ephraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes." The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end; and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do." And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world. Matthew 6:19-21: Storing up heavenly riches Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Arcana Coelestia #5276: An abundance of spiritual grain "An abundance of grain" means a multiplication of truth, since it is the opposite of "famine," which means a lack of truth. The word used in the original language to express "an abundance of grain" (which is an antonym of "famine") means, in the inner sense, a full store and sufficiency of spiritual knowledge; for "famine" means a lack of spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is formed out of the truth in our material self that we have not yet made our own. It is the multiplication of this kind of truth that this Bible passage refers to. Spiritual knowledge does not become truth dwelling in us until we accept it into our understanding--which happens when we firmly embrace it. Even then, the truth dwelling in us does not become our own until we live according it. Nothing becomes ours except what we make a part of our life. When we do this, it does become ours because our life is in it. Sermon: The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end; and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread. (Genesis 41:53, 54) Today's reading from Genesis is another example of how God's planning is better than mine. As most of you know, I am using the readings from the children's Sunday School lesson as the basis for my sermons each week. Today the children are learning about the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dream, and then becoming second-in-command to Pharaoh himself. It that position, he was charge of storing up grain during the seven years of plenty, in order to tide the people through the seven years of famine that he had predicted would come after the seven years of plenty, based on Pharaoh's dream. How was I to know that this reading would come up on a Sunday when we are celebrating communion? Usually, we hold communion on Worldwide Communion Sunday, which is the first Sunday in October. However, not only was I away at the Columbus Day Youth Retreat that Sunday, but I completely forgot about it! So we scheduled communion for this week instead--when we had a reading on bread. Apparently God had a plan. Sharing food and drink together always has a deep meaning, even when we are been aware of it. Those of us who live with family members or close friends almost take it for granted that we share meals. Usually we don't think anything of it--it's just a part of our routine. Sometimes we only notice how important our shared mealtimes are when someone dear to us is missing from the table. Then we realize that eating together is more than just feeding our bodies. It is feeding our souls, too, with the human, interpersonal bread of life. At the table we share not only food and drink, but thoughts and feelings. We talk about what happened today, or some new idea we just had, or how we're feeling a bit down or confused, or especially happy. We respond to one another, adding our own ideas and experiences, giving some support, sharing a happy moment or a sad event. It is no accident that when we share food and drink, we share our thoughts and feelings with one another as well. To use Swedenborg's term, one "corresponds" to the other. To us, this correspondence may not be immediately obvious. But for the angels, it is a part of their everyday experience. Swedenborg writes: Heavenly and spiritual food consists of nothing but goodness and truth. These are the food with which angels and spirits are fed, and which they long for when they are hungry, and thirst for when they are thirsty. This is why material food also corresponds to these things. Bread corresponds to heavenly love, and wine to spiritual love--as does everything else that is a form of "bread" (meaning food) or of "wine" (meaning drink). (_Arcana Coelestia_ #5360) Angels hunger for the goodness of love, and they thirst for the goodness of refreshing truth. And so do we! We humans depend very much on the love and kindness that we share with one another. As children, if we are not loved and cared for, we waste away, and even die for the lack of care. As adults, we search out other people to share our thoughts and feelings with; to love and be loved by. Without this, our life has little meaning or joy. We also thirst for understanding and truth. When we are facing a loss or a tragedy, we ask, "Why?" We seek to understand what has happened. When a friend or loved one grows cold and distant, we ask, "Why?" We want to know what has changed, and what we can do to bridge the gap once again. Even in our simple, everyday tasks, we are always looking for new techniques to make our work a bit lighter; new ideas of something to make or do that will give happiness to those we love; new skills that will make us more productive and better able to provide for ourselves and our families. Yes, like the angels, we humans hunger for goodness and love, and thirst for truth and understanding. These are the food and drink that keep our hearts and minds healthy, strong, and growing. These are _spiritual_ food and drink. And sometimes we don't realize just how vital they are until they are missing. As long as we are living in good times, with our family and friends around us, and things going well, we take for granted the milk of human kindness and the bread of mutual love. When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream, this was just the situation in Egypt. As Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream, the land of Egypt was about to go into a sustained, seven-year period of great abundance. And what do we tend to do when things are going well? We eat, drink, and be merry, thinking--despite all experience to the contrary--that the good times will last forever. Joseph led Egypt on a more prudent course. While the people did enjoy the years of plenty, Joseph also put them to work storing up some of that plenty for the seven years of famine that God had showed him was on the way. And because Joseph listened to God's warning, and Pharaoh listened to Joseph, when all the other lands began suffering with the severe famine, there was plenty of grain in the land of Egypt. The meaning of this in our own lives is probably beginning to come clear now. Let's look at it a little more closely, first as we grow up, and then in our lives today. In the course of our lives we go through a stage that can be compared to the time Joseph and his family stayed in Egypt. Egypt, Swedenborg tells us, symbolizes our eagerness to learn and store up plenty of factual knowledge for ourselves as a basis for understanding the world around us. We know from history that Egypt not only stored up grain as in this Bible story; it was also a land of great stores of knowledge--including spiritual knowledge. Its scholars were renowned in the ancient world. The time when we are best able to store up plenty of factual knowledge is during our childhood and youth. Later, as adults, we will have to spend much of our time and energy supporting ourselves and our family, and making our way in the world. But as children, that responsibility is still in the future. We have plenty of time to learn many things about the world around us. This is the time when we traditionally attend school. Our society views the childhood years as a time of learning in preparation for our adult years, when we can draw on that store of knowledge as we make our way through life. From a Christian perspective, the greatest knowledge we can gain is to thoroughly learn the stories of the Bible and the teachings of the church. Unfortunately, this most important of all knowledge is generally not taught in school. But fortunately, one of the reasons the church exists is to provide people with spiritual knowledge and understanding. We have our own form of school--Sunday School--to provide our children with a knowledge of the Bible and the church's teachings. This is knowledge they will need in order to do well not just materially, but spiritually in their adult years. Each Sunday the children come, they are storing up spiritual grain for times when their lives will be focused on other things. Even children who do not stay with the church through their teenage or young adult years will have stored away priceless treasures of spiritual knowledge in their deeper selves that they can draw on throughout their lives. And those who do stay through their teenage years--when we can offer them a deeper knowledge of the Bible's inner meaning, and a more comprehensive understanding of the church's teachings--will be storing up such rich stores of spiritual "grain" that when their times of emotional struggle and hardship come--their times of inner famine--they will have the inner sustenance to carry them through. And we adults do have our times of famine: times when we struggle with the difficult challenges and painful blows that life deals us. Just when we think everything is going well, and are relaxing in the goodness of life, something hits that takes away all our pleasure and peacefulness in life. We lose someone we love. An inner demon surfaces, and we are plunged into an emotional battle to keep ourselves together. Our work or home life changes, and everything we had taken for granted is suddenly called into question. Or there may not be a particular event to trigger the famine. In the ebb and flow of life, we may simply lose sight of the higher, spiritual goodness of God, so that our spirit sinks into doubt and depression. These are our times of famine when we long for love and understanding, but find it painfully lacking in our lives. These are the times when we desperately need those inner stores of goodness and understanding to tide us over. And if we have not stored up spiritual knowledge and understanding, like the stores of grain Joseph laid up in the granaries of every city throughout Egypt, we will be find ourselves emotionally and spiritually starving. We adults cannot survive forever on the stores of knowledge that we built up as children. Just as the seasons and cycles come and go, we must continually store up more knowledge in our mental granaries to tide us through our times of winter and famine. Attending church and Bible Study, reading the Bible at home, learning about the teachings of our church, learning from other spiritual perspectives: this is how we store up spiritual food that we can draw on to carry us through our times of famine and struggle. Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Amen. ------------------------------------- Rev. Lee Woofenden, Pastor Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 508-946-1767 (home office) 508-697-3068 (church office) 508-946-1757 (fax) Email address: mailto:leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Lee Woofenden's Sermons: http://www.leewoof.org Denominational site: http://www.swedenborg.org From leewoof@mediaone.net Tue Nov 20 02:45:23 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 21:45:23 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Staying Too Long in Egypt," by Eli Dale Message-ID: <4.1.20011119214335.022c1600@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Staying Too Long in Egypt By Eli Dale--Seminary Intern Bridgewater, Massachusetts, November 11, 2001 Readings: Exodus 7: 1-13 The Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them." Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Perform a wonder,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.'" So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts. Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes; but Aaron's staff swallowed up theirs. Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Luke 18:9-14 [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people; thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." Arcana Coelestia #7761 A clear distinction should be drawn between spiritual good and natural good. Spiritual good, as has been stated, derives its particular quality from the truths of faith, the quantity of them, and their connection with one another. But natural good is inborn, and also is engendered by things that happen by chance, such as misfortunes, illnesses, and the like. Natural good saves no one, whereas spiritual good saves all. The reason for this is that the good which is given form by the truths of faith provides heaven--that is, the Lord through heaven--with a level to flow into, in order to lead the person, withhold him from evil, and subsequently raise him to heaven. But natural good is not like that. People therefore whose good is merely natural can be carried away by falsity as easily as by truth, provided that in outward appearance the falsity looks like truth. They can also be led as easily by evil as by good, provided that the evil is presented as good. They are like feathers in the wind. Sermon: Our sojourn in Egypt is initially a good thing. Egypt ordinarily represents learning, getting a grip on the material plane, mastering skills, developing a foundation for one's career. Knowledge becomes our own, for putting to good use: the use of loving the Lord and the neighbor, of taking care of our world and care of ourselves. But if we stay too long in Egypt, we run a risk: Instead of possessing an understanding of the material world, we can become possessed by it. This is the situation we face when we just don't have time to remember God and heaven, when we get so caught up in the daily-ness of life's demands that we begin to think that life really is about career paths, 401K plans, bigger houses, nicer furniture, and achieving kids. We begin to believe it when Madison Avenue tells us that to be happy, safe, fulfilled, or loved we just need to buy this or buy that, have this or have that, do this or do that. And the truly good things, the God that really protects and fulfills us, the God that gives us life, gets tucked away into some forgotten place inside. We end up living, not for heavenly truth, but for material truth, which by itself is not true at all. The family of Israel left Canaan and came to Egypt, as we learned last week, to escape a famine. Egypt had created a storehouse of both physical and spiritual nourishment which fed its own people and others. Joseph, one of the 12 brothers, became the most power person in the land other than Pharaoh. Joseph's priorities were straight. He kept faith in the Lord-the Lord was with him. But 430 years later, after much productivity, we see that the family of Israel, now the tribes of Israel, have stayed too long in Egypt. Where they had once been blessed, now they were oppressed. Where they once had been in command, now they were slaves. They had forgotten to return to Canaan, which represents a heavenly state, the place of communion with the Lord. Well, God cannot leave the true church in this condition unaided; and that's where Moses comes in. Moses was one of the boy babies who should have been disposed of under Pharaoh's genocidal order. But his mother hid him in a basket, Pharaoh's own daughter found him and adopted him. Moses was educated at court and was not enslaved. Moses gains knowledge, but his orientation is spiritual, not material. Even so, he is not crazy about his assignment: to go to Pharaoh and tell him, "Let my people go." Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh to tell him that the long forgotten God of the Israelites wants to be remembered and worshipped, and wants to keep the covenant made with Israel. Interviews with Pharaoh, generally speaking, do not go well. Ten plagues follow. Let it be clear: one key to understanding Bible stories is to know that, even if it says "God was angry" or "God smote them with plagues," God does not have temper tantrums and smite anyone. God does, however, allow us to see what a mess we have made of our own lives. Let's explore some of the dimensions of this tale. Swedenborg tells us that this is the story which explains why God decided take on human form. In its inner meaning, it tells about a spiritual world gone out of balance. It describes the death of a church, represented in this story by Egypt. The ones who loved evil and falsity were in power, and the one's who loved God were cowering in corners. The operative question became (God speaking), "Just how bad to things have to get before I have to show up there in person?" Let's see: (1) Moses says (on Jehovah's behalf), "Let my people go. Here is what a mighty God I am." Aaron raises his staff and the Nile turns to blood. By this the rulers see that they have used lies to make the holy things of the Lord profane. The court magicians replicate this miracle, showing how they misused divine power for material ends, perpetrating the illusion that materialism is not only enough, but powerful. Pharaoh is unimpressed with this gruesome revelation and walks away. (2) Moses says, "Let my people go, or else." Aaron raises his staff and frogs come out of the river and cover the land, "even onto Pharaoh's bed." The frogs show that they based their reasoning on the lies they told themselves. Well, the court magicians also call up frogs, substituting appearance for reality. When Pharaoh asks Moses to remove the frogs, the dead frogs begin to rot, showing that faulty reasoning stinks. Despite his promise that the people could go worship their God, as soon as Pharaoh no longer has to confront the evidence of his faulty reasoning, he reneges. (3) Immediately they get a plague of lice, which represents surface evils. The magicians cannot replicate this trick. "Science" has failed to keep up the game and the magicians warn Pharaoh that God's own power is in play. But Pharaoh is into his control issues and just wants to keep things normal here. (4) Moses says "Let my people go, or else; but this plague will not affect the Israelites living in Egypt." Here we see the first signs of protection and separation of good from evil. The flying insects that bite up every animal and person, indoors and outdoors are lies based on evil, and they are mean. Pharaoh begins to negotiate. He says, "Worship your God here." But "here" is a land of corruption." Moses says no. Pharaoh says, "Ok you can go, but not too far, and make the flies go away." Of course, as soon as the knowledge of his mean lies is taken away, Pharaoh changes his mind again. You get the idea. Livestock dies, people and animals are covered in painful boils, hail destroys most of the crops and locusts destroy the rest, the land is covered in darkness, and in the crowning blow, the first-born of all Egyptian people and animals die. Over and over, Moses demands, Aaron demonstrates, Pharaoh may even say "Go ahead and be faithful to your Lord" but he doesn't have a true change of heart. One downward step leads to another until those in this dying church who have no affection for kindness to other people have assigned themselves to hell. The continuation of belief in God is dependent upon a remnant of faithful people who are oppressed by this madness. The state of the spiritual world was in disarray. And as goes the spiritual world, so goes the physical world. Religion, good & truth, lovingkindness, genuine worship had been supplanted by self-serving greed, image, power, and position. How bad did it have to get before God had to show up here in person? This bad. The story of the ten plagues tells that tale. But Eli, I hear you say, that happened 2000 years ago. It's interesting, but what does it have to do with us? Everything! Bible stories are multidimensional stories, applicable on many levels. We, too, are at risk of staying too long in Egypt, enslaved by corrupt beliefs. The same downward spiral is available to us today, as a nation, as a church, and as individuals. Remember, the Lord does not send us plagues (although it seems that way sometimes), but helpfully shows us our faults, the things we have mistakenly or selfishly substituted for good and truth. When Aaron raises his staff, he does not kill the livestock, but reveals that "the Egyptians"--any of us who treasures the world more than we do God--have killed off the usefulness of their hearts. There we are, minding our own business, when some Moses or Aaron strolls into our lives and shows us the ugly underbelly of our beliefs. Initially, we might tell ourselves lies to make the world appear to make sense without God. Just as the magicians also turned the water into blood and conjured frogs from the river, we might say "This is my doing" when God is trying to get our attention. We become stupid, like the people in Hell. Our personalities insist that a display of power--even a miraculous display--is a personal possession, not the working of the divine. This twists the incoming message, the message which is an invitation to reorder priorities. Whether as a society, as a church, or as individuals, we live in a world that would willingly substitute materiality for spirituality and substitute self for other. Swedenborg warns us repeatedly that doing good for others in order to "obey the law," to gain admiration from others, or to earn brownies points for admission to heaven is not goodness, no matter how good it may look. When the plagues get enough of our attention to get us to take a look, what we see isn't pretty. Where we thought we had a free flowing river of truth, we see the gory streams of falsity. Where we thought we had fruitful and productive fields of thought, a swarm of locusts has darkened our minds. Where we thought we could stand tall in our success of operating the world--and even our church, we discover ourselves so covered with boils of evil desires that we cannot stand. Certainly, that ugly thing cannot be part of us! Of course we want to rationalize, to deny, to change the subject, to walk away, to dig in our heels! We want to go back to what we know, what is familiar, because the familiar is comfortable. God is ready to help us set our spiritual nature free from its captivity to comfortable mistakes. And that brings us to the good news of this story. Let's take one more look at the tale of the plagues and take hold of the silver lining. Because this is not just a story of vastation and hypocrisy. It is also a story of perseverance and liberation in the face of overwhelming odds--because of God's hand on the lives of the faithful. There is hope even for those who have stayed too long in Egypt. Read this story! At every turn, we begin with "Jehovah said"--the voice of God is always speaking. If we're in doubt and need proof, power will be demonstrated, as when Aaron's staff becomes a snake. Lost in a sea of material illusions, our inner Moses brings us the inflow of God's presence and says "Be free!" The Lord knows we're likely to be disoriented. Repeatedly and patiently, God allows us to see just how we've gone wrong. It will be uncomfortable and disheartening and we may be tempted to go into denial, to justify what we think we know, to avoid upsetting our applecart. During those times when we don't like what we see of our faults, we, like Pharaoh, are likely to cry out for relief. But to whom do we cry? Early on, Moses tells Pharaoh, "have honor over me"--that is an inner voice that says "Trust God!" The plagues, as awful as they may seem, are our friends. Do you have a friend you trust so much that it is ok when she or he tells you when you are messing up your life? You have that kind of friend in the Lord. In crisis, we have the choice of reordering our lives or of desperately scrambling back into old patterns. Our nation is facing this choice right now. In order to prove that America will not be shaken by the terrorism of September 11, our President asks us all to return to normal, to go shopping! But Christian voices as diverse as Max Lucado, popular evangelical author and preacher, and Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal priest, have questioned the wisdom of this instruction. Here's what they say: Max Lucado: "America was different this week. We wept for people we did not know. We sent money to families we've never seen. Talk-show hosts read Scriptures, journalists printed prayers. Our focus shifted from fashion hemlines and box scores to orphans and widows and the future of the world... We're not as self-centered as we were. We're not as self-reliant a we were. Hands are out. Knees are bent. This is not normal. And I have to ask the question, 'Do we want to go back to normal?' Are we being given a glimpse of a new way of life? Are we, as a nation, being reminded that the enemy is not each other and the power is not in ourselves and the future is not in our bank accounts? Could this unselfish prayerfulness be the way God intended for us to live all along? . . . Perhaps the best response to this tragedy is to refuse to go back to normal." Barbara Brown Taylor: "On September 11, thousands of Americans died violent deaths, while millions of others were scared to death. In the weeks since then, we have seen some awful things. We have also seen some remarkable ones--true heroes at Ground Zero, interfaith alliances across the land, lawyers' associations declining lawsuits, Hollywood producers yanking blockbuster films--in short, an entire country engaged in a revolution of values. "It is apparently something we could not do on our own, but the stunning tragedies of the past several weeks have brought with them equally stunning clarity about what matters and what does not. . . . I do not want to go back to the way things were. . . "I want to keep opening my Bible and getting smacked between the eyes by what I read there. Six weeks ago, 'Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you' sounded like advice about how to live with my ornery next-door neighbor. Like many Americans, my circumstances were such that I could afford to read the scripture as domestic good news. Now when I read the Gospels or the prophets, it is as if they are addressing the evening news from truly radical pulpits. I don't want to go back to my normal way of taming the gospel. I want to keep exploring this strange new wilderness, as uncomfortable as it is" (Christian Century, November 7, 2001 p. 26). These words are as true--and as challenging--on a personal level as they are on a national level. Over and over we may resolve to follow God only to return to our materialistic ways--the familiar, the "normal," the accepted, the popular. Eventually, our ability to use the ruses of science for rationalization will fail, as when the magicians failed to replicate God's miracles. Pharaoh is not consistently unconvinced; sometimes he gets the picture. Our view of our failings becomes sharper--but so does our personal pain and risk of shame. Sharper, too, is the turn we need to take to make a course correction. So let us learn from Pharaoh's mistakes. The Bible is a guidebook and we can use the warnings we read there two ways. One way is to understand and to forgive ourselves when we find we are making the very mistakes the Bible warns us about! The other is to use the Bible stories to recognize those mistakes early on and say, "I think I've stayed too long in Egypt! It's time to set this person free." ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Tue Nov 20 02:52:29 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 21:52:29 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Bread from Heaven," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011119215145.022b3760@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Bread from Heaven By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, November 18, 2001 Thanksgiving Sunday Readings: Exodus 16:1-15: Manna and quail The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days." So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?" And Moses said, "When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning; when the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him, what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord." Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, 'Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.'" And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'" In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat." John 6:25-36: Jesus, the true bread from heaven When they found Jesus on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." They said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Sermon: Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. (Exodus 16:4) Bread from heaven. For the ancient Israelites, as they wandered in the desert after being rescued from their Egyptian slavery through plagues and other miracles, the bread from heaven was quite literal. And they had no idea what it was. The Hebrew word "manna" means, "What is it?" The manna came down upon the ground with the morning dew; when the dew lifted, the manna was left behind for the people to gather. This continued for forty years, from the time the Israelites crossed the Red Sea to the time they entered the Holy Land and first began to eat the produce of the land. It was their primary food--their main sustenance--the whole time they wandered in the desert. Twice along the way, we are told, they were also given quails to eat--one of those times being in our story for today. The manna came in the morning, but the quails came in the evening. These were not local birds. The Israelites were on the quails' migratory path as they flew north from their winter home in Africa. So the quails were an occasional treat for the Israelites, while the manna came faithfully every morning--except on the Sabbath, when they were supposed to have gathered enough the day before to last two days. Of course, we also need literal, physical food to eat in order to sustain our bodies so that we can live on this earth. We pray each week--and some of us each day--that the Lord will "give us this day our daily bread." And though our food doesn't come from heaven in quite the same way the manna did, we must admit that for all our scientific prowess, we have no power whatsoever to create even a single seed, still less to make it sprout, grow, mature, and bear fruit. We can and do take care of our crops as they grow, but life itself is still a mystery to science. And even though our food doesn't literally fall from heaven with the morning dew as the manna did, the life within it is still the Lord's work. In fact, the life within all living things is really a deeper, spiritual force or reality that comes from heaven, and through heaven from the Lord. This is easy to see in the case of a human being. From a religious perspective, the difference between a living human being and a dead body is whether or not the person's spirit is dwelling within the body. When our spirit departs our body, the body dies. Once we realize this, we can see that it is the spirit that gives life to the body every moment of our lives. It is also spirit that gives life to the plants and animals that provide us with our food. A seed can sprout, grow, and bear fruit only because of a continual flow of life from the spiritual world into its material substances. An animal can be conceived, born, and grow to maturity only because of the same flow of life from the spiritual world. If that flow of life were stopped even for an instant, the plant or animal would instantly die. In a very real sense, then, even the literal bread on our tables--the food we eat each day to sustain our bodies--comes from heaven. We may balk at the idea of manna miraculously appearing on the ground each morning for forty years while the ancient Israelites wandered in the desert. But we are so used to the miracle of life, which brings us our food each day, that most of the time we simply take it for granted. We do not realize that if God were not flowing through the spiritual world into the world of nature, we would have no food at all--and even our own lives would be instantly snuffed out. This year, as we sit down to our Thanksgiving feasts, we can truly thank the Lord for our daily bread. Every bite of food we eat is a gift that the Lord gives to us through heaven. Every bite comes to us in ways that we cannot even fathom. If we knew what it was really made of, and how it came to be on our table, we might, like the Israelites, exclaim, "What is it?" What is this food we are eating? It is not merely stuff of this earth. As the Psalmist said, "Mortals ate the bread of angels" (Psalm 78:25). And we are still eating the bread of angels today. At each meal, we are eating spiritual life put into physical form in order to sustain us while we are living here on earth. What is the "bread of angels"? What is this "bread of heaven" that comes down into physical form to sustain us? In our scientific age, we tend to be greatly impressed by material things and physical wonders. We are dazzled by the wonders of technology--the fancy new computers and games and gadgets that are continually flowing out of the minds of inventors and into stores, and finally into our homes to make our lives easier and put more power into our hands. Even in farming--in the production of our food--we have invented and produced big machines and huge factories to automate production and increase our efficiency in bringing food to the tables of our growing world population. Technology is something we can see and hold in our hands. And the things technology produces we can also hold in our hands and "consume"--either literally in the case of food, or figuratively in the case of "consumer goods" Yet there is a deeper aspect to life that is even more vital to us than our possessions, and even than our daily food. And we can get at that deeper aspect very simply by asking the question: What's the use of having all kinds of possessions and all the fine food and drink we could ever want, if we have no one to share it with? Yes, we humans need clothing, shelter, and food. And we gain some comfort and pleasure from the belongings that we gather around ourselves. But the most precious "things" we have are our relationships with our family members and friends. Without these, our lives are meaningless. And what gives meaning and reality to our relationships? Isn't it the love and understanding that we share with one another? In a far deeper way than we need food and drink, we human beings need the love of our fellow human beings; and we need to share our thoughts, our beliefs, our aspirations, our dreams with one another. This is the "food" that sustains our souls--which, in turn, sustain our bodies. Without this spiritual food, we pine away even in the midst of luxury. Now we can begin to understand what Jesus was talking about in our reading from the Gospel of John. Earlier in the same chapter, Jesus had fed five thousand people with five barley loaves and two small fish. Those who were there got as much as they wanted to eat. Given that many of these people lived in poverty and didn't often get a meal that really filled them up, just having as much as they wanted to eat was quite an experience. No wonder they followed Jesus all the way to the other side of the lake! Jesus was no naive dreamer. He knew why they were following him. He told them plainly, "You are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." And then he continued, with words intended to lift our minds up to hunger for higher and deeper food: "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." The people did not understand him. "Show us a sign so that we can believe you," they said. "Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus then challenged them to understand what the true bread from heaven is. And finally he said to them, in challenging words that we use in our communion services, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." What does this mean? And do we believe it? That the Lord Jesus is the bread of life? It is not so hard to believe. We know that we are sustained emotionally by the love and understanding of our family and friends. We know that we inwardly wither and die when we get only jealousy, criticism, and anger from those around us. We know that our spirits live or die according to the thoughts and feelings we can, or can't, share with them. The Lord Jesus is where all our love comes from. The Lord Jesus is where all our understanding comes from. As Christians, and especially as Swedenborgians, we believe that Jesus is the human presence of the infinite, divine Creator of the universe. And we believe that God, the divine Creator, is made of love, shaped by wisdom. From that divine love, and through that divine wisdom, the whole universe, and us along with it, spins out from God. Love is the stuff of the universe! We are all made of love. Even our physical bodies are simply love slowed down enough so that it takes a fairly inert, fixed form instead of being the dynamic, powerful, and brilliant presence that we are when we inhabit our angel selves. Yes, the Lord's love is the true bread from heaven. Above all the material wonders that dazzle our eyes and our minds here on earth, there is the simple fact that nothing at all . . . nothing at all! . . . could exist even for an instant if it were not sustained by God's love. This is the true bread from heaven. This is the greatest and most wonderful food to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, as we enjoy the food that sustains our bodies, and the love of our family and friends that sustains our souls. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Mon Nov 26 19:08:46 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 14:08:46 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "The Tabernacle Blueprints," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011126140805.02298230@pop.ne.mediaone.net> The Tabernacle Blueprints By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, November 25, 2001 Readings: Exodus 26:30-37: Plans for the tabernacle You shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain. You shall make a veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold, which have hooks of gold and rest on four bases of silver. You shall hang the veil under the clasps, and bring the ark of the covenant in there, within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table; and you shall put the table on the north side. You shall make a curtain for the entrance of the tent, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework. You shall make for the curtain five pillars of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them. Revelation 21:15-21: The measure of a human being The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length, width, and height are equal. He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits--the measurement of a human being, that is, of an angel. The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls; each of the gates is a single pearl. And the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass. Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture: #46 Tabernacle symbolism The tabernacle represented heaven and the church. That is why its plan was given by Jehovah on Mount Sinai. Everything in the tabernacle--the lampstand, the golden altar of incense, and the table on which was the bread of the Presence--symbolized the holy things of heaven and the church. The holy of holies, in which was the ark of the covenant, symbolized the deepest parts of heaven and the church. The Law itself, written on the two tables of stone and enclosed in the ark, symbolized the Lord as the Word. . . . The outermost things of the Tabernacle, which were the curtains and veils (and thus its coverings and containers), symbolized the outermost things of the Bible, which are the true and good things in the literal meaning. And because they symbolized these outermost things of the Bible, all of the curtains and veils were made of fine linen intertwined, of hyacinthine blue and bright crimson, and of double-dyed scarlet, with cherubim. Sermon: You shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain. (Exodus 26:30) As every builder knows, before we can even start building a house, there must be a plan describing how the house will be laid out. Of course, for a simple, rough dwelling with only one or two rooms, it may be enough for the builders to have a mental plan. But for anything more complex, blueprints are required. At the time that the tabernacle of the Lord was built, the Israelites lived in tents--which didn't require blueprints. But the tabernacle was a different story. Though still simple by today's standards (it was really not a "building" at all, but rather a glorified tent) it was far more complex than any other structure that the tent-dwelling Israelites used. Besides, this wasn't just any old building. This was the dwelling place of the Lord. This was where both common people and priests went to commune with their God. Such a complex and important building couldn't be put together willy-nilly. It needed blueprints. And since it was the Lord's house, it was the Lord who provided the blueprints. We read only a brief section of those "blueprints" this morning, since they cover several chapters toward the end of Exodus. What we did read gives a taste of the level of detail involved. Though there was some room for artistic license, the plans that the Lord gave for the tabernacle were very specific, and the Israelites were to follow them exactly. The overall plan for the tabernacle called for it to have three divisions. The largest was the outer court. In the outer court was the laver full of water for ritual cleansing, and the altar of burnt offerings, where the priests sacrificed the people's offerings. The outer court was about seventy five feet wide and one hundred fifty feet long. It was enclosed by curtains held up by wooden poles that stood on bronze bases. The people were allowed into the outer court, which was where all their acts of sacrificial worship took place. The other two divisions of the tabernacle were placed within the court, in a covered tent which was often called the "tabernacle" by itself. The "tent of meeting," as it was also called, was about fifteen feet wide and forty-five feet long. No one but the priests were allowed to enter it. This is what was described in our reading from Exodus. It was divided by a "veil," or curtain, into two sections. The front section was called the "holy place." In it were three pieces of sacred furniture: the altar of incense, the seven-branched candlestick, and the table of "showbread," or "bread of the Presence." The priests entered the holy place every day to offer incense to the Lord, keep the candles on the candlestick burning, and place fresh bread before the Lord each morning. There were also various sacred cups, bowls, and other utensils. The section to the rear of the tent of meeting, separated from the holy place by a veil, was called the "most holy place," or the "holy of holies." It contained only one piece of furniture: the ark of the covenant, in which was the Ten Commandments. The lid of the ark was called the "mercy seat," and it had two winged figures called "cherubim" on it. Only the high priest was ever allowed to enter the most holy place, and even he entered only once a year, on the day of atonement. On that day, when the high priest entered the most holy place, the Lord would speak to him from between the two cherubim on the mercy seat. This is a summary of the tabernacle blueprints. To get the detailed version, you'll have to read it for yourself in Exodus! Of course, the tabernacle has long since crumbled into the dust of history. And yet its description, along with the worship practiced in it, is faithfully recorded in the Bible--which we as Christians believe to be the Word of God. Why is it there? What relevance does a rather ornate tent built over three thousand years ago for the sacrificial worship of an ancient culture have for our lives today? Why are these blueprints contained in God's Holy Word? The apostle Paul points toward an answer. First, in the letter to the Hebrews he says that the priests "serve as a representation and shadow of heavenly things, just as Moses was warned, when he was about to build the tabernacle, 'See that you make all things according to the plan that you were shown on the mountain.'" (Hebrews 8:5). So the tabernacle is not simply a building made of wood, metal, cloth, and animal skins. It is a "representation and shadow of heavenly things." In other words, it carries a deeper, spiritual and heavenly meaning within its literal description. Then, in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul asks his readers, "Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). Yes you and I--and all of us together--are the temple and the tabernacle of God! The blueprints for the tabernacle are not merely a description of an ancient place of worship. They are a living blueprint that we are meant to follow spiritually if we wish to have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. They are divinely inspired instructions that we can follow to build a house for the Lord in our own hearts, minds, and lives. Just as the Lord commanded Moses from the mountain to build this tabernacle for the children of Israel, so the Lord commands us from heaven to build the tabernacle of God within us and among us. We cannot hope to cover more than a fraction of the deep, personal meanings in the tabernacle in the short time we have together. If you would like to learn more about the worship practiced in the tabernacle, and what it can mean for your spiritual life, I highly recommend a beautiful little book by the Rev. Dr. Dorothea Harvey called _The Holy Center_. It is available from the Swedenborg Foundation in an inexpensive paperback edition, and we have several copies on our book racks here at the church. For now, let's take a look at the layout of the tabernacle itself as outlined earlier, and see if we can gain some insight about how we can build ourselves into God's temple. The first thing to know is that wherever the Israelites traveled, when they made camp the tabernacle was always placed in the center, with all the tribes arranged around it in a set pattern. The meaning of this for us could not be clearer. Though we have many thoughts, feelings, activities, and concerns, represented by the twelve tribes and all the people who belonged to them, the Lord should always be at the center of our lives. Money, pleasure, possessions, relationships. All these are secondary. Even such necessities for physical life as food, clothing, and shelter must take second place to following the will of God. And if this sounds like it could be challenging, then you're beginning to get the idea that building the tabernacle of God requires a complete commitment on our part! Now let's take a survey of the three sections of the tabernacle: the most holy place, the holy place, and the outer court. The experienced Swedenborgians among you will probably guess that these three refer to our heart, mind, and outward life. Our Sunday School teachers may have also come across this in the _Bible Study Notes_ by Anita S. Dole--from which I am drawing and adapting these descriptions of the deeper meaning of the tabernacle. The most holy place stands for our inmost heart. In that most holy place is the ark containing the Ten Commandments--the most sacred laws of the Jewish religion. This suggests that laws of the Lord are not meant to be dead letters that we obey merely from a sense of obligation, but rather to be "written on our hearts," as Jeremiah the prophet said: "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33) If we truly wish to build the tabernacle of the Lord in our lives, we must come to love following the Lord's commandments; they must be written on our hearts, so that we follow them with joy. And when we do follow them willingly from the heart, we will find that even though they may lead us through some difficult passages, in the end they will bring a deeper peace and happiness both to ourselves and to those around us. What does it mean that the most holy place was entered so seldom, and only by the high priest? We humans here on earth live most of our lives in the realm of outward words and actions. Most of the time, we barely know what is in our heart of hearts. Only occasionally do our thoughts go deep enough to commune with the center of our being. Yet when we do enter our inner "holy of holies," we find the voice of God speaking to us there, just as God spoke to the high priest from between the cherubim on the ark of the covenant. While the most holy place represents the deepest loves of our heart, the holy place represents the inward thoughts of our mind. The common people were not allowed into this section of the tabernacle, either, just as our inner thoughts are hidden from the people around us--and even from ourselves when we are busy with our common tasks. Yet we are much more aware of our inner thoughts than we are of our deepest feelings. Every day the priests went into the holy place to tend to the various rituals of worship that the Lord required of them: burning incense, keeping the sacred flames of the lampstand burning, and offering fresh "daily bread." These three represent the different ways we are to present our thoughts before the Lord each day. We offer incense to the Lord by coming to the Lord every day in humble prayer. Like the pleasing odor of the incense, these prayers rise up to God, and God answers with a blessing on us and on those we pray for. The candlestick represents our acknowledgement that all the light and warmth we have--meaning all our knowledge and understanding, and all our good feelings and loves--come from the Lord. We keep the candles lit before the Lord when we continually remember that the things we know and the love we feel do not belong to us, but are the Lord's gifts to us each day and each moment. Recognizing this keeps us from falling victim to pride and egotism that would corrupt the good in us. And it reminds us to keep our minds and hearts open every day to the wonderful gifts of love and light from the Lord. And the table of "showbread," or bread of the Presence, represents our acknowledgement that not only our thoughts and feelings, but all the good and kind things we do also come from the Lord. When we feed one another with the bread of kindness, it is really the Lord's love and compassion working through us. Finally, the outer court represents our everyday life--all the things we say and do throughout the day. This is open to all the people, just as our words and actions are visible to everyone around us. The two pieces of furniture there--the laver and the altar of burnt offering--represent the two ways in which we can dedicate our outward lives to the Lord. The laver was a place for ritual washing. It reminds us that we are to keep our words and actions clean by continually subjecting them to the cleansing waters of spiritual truth. Everything we say and do should be passed through the water of God's truth to ensure that we are speaking and acting in ways worthy of God, and of our own higher self. And we sacrifice our lives to the Lord when we live, not for our own pleasure, but for the glory of God and for the good of our fellow human beings. Yes, anything that stands in the way of our serving the Lord and the neighbor in this way must be sacrificed. But the greatest "sacrifice" to the Lord is to present our entire lives as an offering to God. As the prophet Micah said: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) This is the briefest tabernacle blueprint. As we form our lives according to these words, we become a living tabernacle of God, bringing God's presence to everyone around us. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Fri Dec 7 20:06:03 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 15:06:03 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "A Safe Path through Deep Waters," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011207150508.01c84be0@pop.ne.mediaone.net> A Safe Path through Deep Waters By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 2, 2001 First Sunday in Advent Readings: Joshua 3:9-17: Crossing the Jordan Joshua said to the Israelites, "Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God." He said, "By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan. So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap." When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped into the edge of the water, the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. Revelation 2:8-11: To the angel of the church in Smyrna "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life: I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware! The devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death. Apocalypse Explained #700: The symbolism of crossing the Jordan The miracle of crossing the Jordan symbolizes the introduction of people of faith into the church, and through the church into heaven. In the spiritual sense, the children of Israel mean people of faith, who, after enduring temptations (which are meant by their wanderings in the desert) are brought into the church. The land of Canaan, into which the children of Israel were brought, symbolizes the church, and Jordan symbolizes the first entrance into it. The waters of Jordan symbolize true ideas that introduce people into the church. . . . However, in this story Jordan and its waters symbolize the false ideas that come from evil and lead to hell, since the land of Canaan was then filled with idol-worshipping nations, which symbolize every kind of evil and falsity that forms hell. . . . And because at that point the waters of Jordan symbolized the false ideas that come from evil, they were divided and kept back so that a pathway could be given to the children of Israel, who represented the church. Since the Lord alone moves aside and disperses the false ideas that come from the evil of hell; and since the Lord alone brings people of faith into the church and into heaven through divine truth; and because the ark, and the law contained in it, represented the Lord as divine truth, the Lord commanded that the ark should go before the people and lead them. This is why, as soon as the priests who carried the ark dipped their feet into the waters of the Jordan, the waters were divided and flowed away, and the people passed over on dry land. Sermon: While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. (Joshua 3:17) As we cross over into the period of Advent, which covers four Sundays before Christmas, we come in our Old Testament series to the story of the children of Israel crossing the Jordan into the Holy Land. And just as the birth that we celebrate at Christmas was a miraculous one, so the entry of the Israelites into Canaan took place by a miracle. We are told that as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the ark touched the waters of the Jordan River, the waters began to pile up in a heap far upriver, and the whole nation of Israel crossed over on dry ground. To appreciate the meaning of this crossing, we need to look back in thought to an earlier time that the Israelites crossed a body of water in a similarly miraculous way. After the Ten Plagues, when Moses was leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, Pharaoh sent his army after them to bring this great force of slave laborers to back Egypt. As the Egyptian army approached, the people were sure they were lost, since they were cut off by the Red Sea, and could go no farther without drowning. It was then that Moses, commanded by the Lord, stretched out his staff over the water, and the water parted so that the people could go across on dry land. When they were safely over, and the Egyptian chariots and horsemen tried to follow them, Moses once again stretched out his staff over the waters. This time the waters returned to their place, engulfing the Egyptian army. Between the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground and the similarly miraculous crossing of the Jordan, there were forty years of wandering in the desert. In that time, everyone who had been an adult of twenty years or older died in the desert--everyone, that is, except for Joshua and Caleb, the two men who had urged the people to trust in God, and to go immediately into Canaan to conquer it. But the people were afraid, and did not listen to Joshua and Caleb. So none of the rest of the adults ever reached the Holy Land. It was their children and grandchildren who followed Joshua across the Jordan. Yet the older ones among those who crossed the Jordan would have been teenagers and children at the time of the first crossing. They would have remembered the great miracle God worked for them forty years earlier. And of course, the parents would have told the story over and over again to their children who had not been born yet, or were to young to remember. When the Lord once again parted the waters before the Israelites, they knew its significance. Though they were not in danger of immediate defeat by a pursuing army as they had been the last time, they remembered that great deliverance. As they entered their Promised Land, they knew that the Lord was with them to deliver them from their enemies, and to lead them safely forward on paths that normally would have been impassable. The first time the waters parted before them, the miracle was worked through the staff of Moses. This time, with Joshua issuing the orders, it was the ark of the covenant, containing the Ten Commandments, that channeled the divine power that worked the miracle. As long as the priests carrying the ark stood in the Jordan's riverbed, the waters were held back. As soon as they left the dry waterbed, the waters started flowing again. So not only did Joshua gain honor as the new leader of the Israelites following the death of Moses, but the people saw the great power of the ark, and of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments, were the most sacred laws of the Israelites, spoken to them by God in a living voice from Mt. Sinai, and also written on the two tables of stone that were the only contents of the ark. They were the very first commandments given by God at Mt. Sinai, and they were the center and soul of the entire Old Testament Law. In a sense, they were the entire Word of God summed up in ten brief statements. For us today, they also represent the Word of God. As they are written, they represent the written Word of God, which we know as the Bible. And in their deeper, spiritual meaning, they represent the Word of God coming alive in us, and directing our lives from within. It should not be too hard to grasp the meaning of the Ten Commandments going first into the river and causing the waters to stop flowing so that the people could go across on dry land. The Israelites literally "followed the Commandments" into the river: they walked into the river behind the priests carrying the ark, and then continued across the river on the way that the Commandments were directing them to go. We figuratively "follow the commandments" when we direct our lives according to their teachings. When we do this, we can move through and beyond barriers in our lives that would otherwise be impossible for us to get past. When we do our best to live by the Word of God, doors open to us that would otherwise be closed, and we grow and deepen as human beings in ways that we never would if we insisted on following our own plans and ideas instead of God's. What does all of this have to do with Advent? What does this have to do with the Lord coming into the world--the event we celebrate at Christmas? We are told in John 1:14 that "the Word became flesh and lived among us." While the Ten Commandments were the Word of God written on stone tablets, Jesus Christ was the Word of God expressed in the flesh--in a living, human being. And just as the priests carried the ark containing the Ten Commandments into the river, so Jesus went into the river to be baptized by John the Baptist, setting an example for all to follow. As Christians, we not only have the fixed, written Law of the Ten Commandments, but also the living Law of Jesus Christ to follow. And just as the Ten Commandments brought the Israelites safely through the flood waters of the Jordan, so Jesus Christ can bring us safely through the flood waters that stand in our way as we travel the paths of our lives. What are these flood waters? Swedenborg tells us that in this story, the waters of Jordan symbolize "the false ideas that come from evil and lead to hell." Hmm. . . . That's pretty abstract. Perhaps an example would help. What's a false idea that comes from evil and leads to hell that might be knocking around in our minds? How about this: "My own happiness is the most important thing. After all, if I don't look out for #1, who's going to?" Now that's a false idea! The Lord teaches us very plainly that we are to love God above all else, and our neighbor as ourselves. But if we believe that our own happiness is the most important thing--even if we don't actually say it out loud--then we believe we are more important than God and our neighbor. That belief comes from evil: the evil of self-centeredness. And if we follow it, we will eventually find ourselves in hell. Hell is where everyone loves themselves and their own possessions more than they love anyone else. Hell happens when we don't care all that much about others; we care only for our own happiness and pleasure, and if we put others down in order to get it, so much the better! Their loss is our gain. The idea that our own happiness is the most important thing exactly fits Swedenborg's definition of what the Jordan symbolizes when it is used in a negative sense. It is a false idea that comes from evil and leads us into hell. Now, we may not think that we have this particular false idea in our heads. And perhaps this isn't one of the toughies for some of us. Some of us may put everyone _else's_ happiness first in an unhealthy way, neglecting our own health and well-being. But let's use the example of thinking our own happiness is most important. When we look at it rationally, it's obvious that this attitude will only lead to trouble. We can easily see that if everyone were to live by this principle, our world would soon fall apart as everyone tried to gain their own pleasure at the expense of everyone else--even stealing and killing if others get in their way. Come to think of it, there's an awful lot of that sort of thing in our world, isn't there? Wherever this attitude reigns, we do see hell on earth: war, exploitation, corruption, conflict, greed, violence, and so on. It's easy to see the results all around us of people thinking that their own happiness is the most important thing. It is much harder to see that in ourselves. We like to believe that we aren't like everyone else; that we really _do_ care about others as much as we care about ourselves. Yet when push comes to shove, too often we pick the route that seems easiest and most beneficial for ourselves. Too often we don't see--until it is too late--how our words and actions affect the people around us. So we create conflict and discord in our own lives, and get a little taste of hell when all we wanted was a bit of heaven for ourselves. On our own, we'll always pick the way that seems to bring the most benefit to ourselves. It is the Lord who teaches us not only to love our neighbor as ourselves, but even to love our enemies, and do good to those who hate us. This is the living Law that can provide a safe passage for us through the deep waters of our own faulty, self-centered attitudes. If we learn even the most simple truths that the Lord teaches us in the Bible, and do our best to follow them day by day, the rivers of false ideas that flow within our minds will give way, and we will pass over on dry land into the land of Canaan--which represents heaven, both hereafter and right here on earth. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Dec 10 02:52:48 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 21:52:48 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] The Importance of Mary's Role in the Lord's Coming Message-ID: <200112092152_MC3-EA08-3ECE@compuserve.com> The Importance of Mary's Role in the Lord's Coming by the Rev. Eric H. Carswell December 2, 2001 The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35 What amazing words these must have been to the young woman, Mary, when she first heard them. Just minutes before she had probably been engaged in some mundane task of daily life in her mother's home, perhaps grinding flour or baking bread, maybe weaving or spinning wool into yarn. If she was like most young women who are shortly to be married, her mind would have been turned to her future life with Joseph, what their home would be like, the children they would have and the life that they would lead together. Happy images of the future would have filled her thoughts. She would have had her hopes, dreams and expectations--images of how her life would be as the future wife of Joseph. Suddenly with the appearance of the angel Gabriel, her visions of the future contained a new and dramatically different element. The angel told her that she was highly favored and blessed among women, that the Lord was with her and that she would soon conceive and bring forth a son whose name would be Jesus. This child would be given the throne of Mary's ancient relative, King David and reign forever. Mary voiced the question of how this would take place. She knew the order of natural conception and knew that the angel's message did not fit into this order. In explanation the angel Gabriel told her of the greatest miracle of all time saying, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." We are called to believe that miracles do occur. Some people are troubled by the idea of miracles based on their picture of cause and effect in this world. They have accepted that the only causes are natural ones, the laws of physics and so on. For such a person the idea of Jesus being born without a natural father is fantastic beyond belief. But we are called to believe that miracles have and do occur. There are forces that attack this belief. We have grown up in a culture that has a strong sense of natural order. Science today is capable of explaining so many events that previously were mysteries. It is capable of explaining them by means of fundamental laws of nature. For some this sense of natural law can become so strong that the Lord's active presence within creation vanishes. For some there is no Divine intervention within this system. All is fixed and moves along with changes taking place by mere random accident. But it could be noted that according to natural law most changes result in more chaos, not less chaos. Changes tend toward the break down of a higher order into a lower one. Think of the example of a person quickly typing out a document on a computer. You would expect that errors would be introduced into the typing. What is the likelihood that the errors would improve the original document? It's possible, but rather unexpected. But the argument for pure natural evolution is that given enough time and the forces of natural selection life as we now know it has developed. Asserting that human life came about purely by random accidents starting with the genetic code of the most primitive life millions of years ago seems akin to saying that given enough time and enough typed copies a simple child's nursery rhyme could evolve into a Shakespearean play without any plan or higher thought being involved. We are called to believe that miracles do occur. However, the Writings for the New Church have taught us that we are not to expect to see the miracles of the Old and New Testaments performed today in the same way they were performed in the time those books were written. We read: The reason miracles are not done at this day, as before, is that miracles compel, and take away free will in spiritual things; and from being spiritual, they make a person natural. All in the Christian world . . . can become spiritual; and they become spiritual solely from the Lord through the Word; and the faculty for this would perish if they were brought to believe through miracles. (True Christian Religion 501) Partially based on statements such as this, a person can come to a pattern of thinking that does not believe in the Lord's ability to affect things for good in a miraculous way even today. A person could believe in God, but still tend to view the natural world as following laws of a machine-like system. Anything that does not fit into this fixed system is believed to be a miracle that would take away spiritual freedom--the very freedom that the Lord was born into the world to reestablish. Perhaps, though, it is too easy for us to become too limited in our view. So limited that we block out a sight of the miracles that can occur within our own lives without taking away our spiritual freedom. Perhaps it is too easy for this limited point of view to block out a sense of the Lord's presence, a sense of the Holy Spirit's presence. How does the Lord reach out to touch our lives? What of Mary's life? The events surrounding the first Christmas were a major intervention within her life. The same is true of her husband to be, Joseph. Both of them could have denied the possibility of a miraculous conception and this state of denial would have been far more damaging than that of Zacharias's. Could the Lord's birth ever have taken place if Mary was not willing to accept the angel's words? Her firstborn was to have a continuing effect throughout her whole life. His presence was not without many events that brought a sense of awe and wonder to both Mary and Joseph. We know of at least one event that showed that raising Jesus was not always easy. At age 12, they spent three anxious days searching for Him, only to find Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of teachers, listening and asking questions. In addition to the way in which Jesus' birth and life intervened in Joseph and Mary's life, think of the way His presence affected the disciples. Many of them were happily going about their daily jobs when they were called to leave all behind and follow Him. While this intervention sometimes involved something of the miraculous, it also involved an element of free will. Just as Joseph and Mary could have resisted the words of the angel announcing that the Lord would be born, so also the disciples could have heard the Lord call them to follow and shook their heads and returned to their work. There were many, many others who were influenced in this same way. Many others who heard the Lord's words calling to them and had their lives profoundly influenced by what He said. The Lord comes to each of us in our lives many times each day. While we may not have anything occur in our lives that an objective observer would call miraculous, it is not true that our lives will follow some preestablished route, set by our inborn nature and directed compelling experience of the natural world. The Lord's first birth represents the way in which He comes in any age to anyone who will receive Him. Just as the words of the angel Gabriel would have been a dramatic intervention within the happy normalcy of the future that Mary would have envisioned, so also the Lord can come to us announcing the conception of a future for us that is far different from the one our natural mind would envision. The Lord comes to us offering and promising a far different set of reactions to daily events from the ones we presently have--a different perspective, a far greater patience in some areas and a stronger resolve and commitment in others. He comes to us bringing light to areas of thoughts that we had resigned ourselves to being in deep darkness and bringing warmth to much that we might otherwise have done from need or duty. The angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin, whose name was Mary. Ancient prophecies had promised that the Messiah would be born as the child of a young woman. Several hundred years after this prophecy was given, a Greek version of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, introduced a new element of the miraculous by using a word in this prophecy that was not the general one for a young woman, but rather the distinctive Greek term for "virgin." When the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, the gospel of Matthew records that he quoted this prophecy according to the way it is presented in the Septuagint. The Writings for the New Church make it quite clear that this seemingly added idea is correct and even essential in our understanding of the Lord's advent. There are two distinct reasons for the importance of a belief in the virgin birth. One reason has to do with the essential need for Jesus to be born with a natural mother but without a natural father if He was going to perform as Savior and Redeemer. It was crucial for the work of Jesus that He not derive from His birth any of the internal evils that are passed on through the soul provided by the natural father in any natural conception. His soul and life came directly from the infinite God. His developing mind and life were the ever more perfect manifestation in human form of the Father and creator, our Lord and God. But it was important that He take on the hereditary inclinations to evil that birth to a natural mother brought to His life. The second reason for believing in the virgin birth exists because of the representation of the term virgin and what this says about how the Lord comes to us in our lives. We are told that a virgin represents someone who willing to have his or her life affected by truth. In this story, Mary represents a state of mind in each of our lives that is not controlled by self interest nor committed to a determined course of action. It is a state of mind that is open to new possibilities. The Lord comes to us to each of us bringing the promise of a new conception of life just as the angel Gabriel came to the virgin Mary. He comes promising a rebirth or regeneration of life that is radically different from the one we come by naturally. It is not to the hustle and bustle of established life that He appears, but rather to those states of mind that, like the virgin Mary, look forward to something new and different and most importantly are willing to receive the conception of this new life. The life that comes to us naturally, apart from any presence of the Lord, is like a child conceived of a human father and mother. Without the Lord's presence, this life cannot have any other basis than self-interest and worldly concern. Experience may teach us to broaden this self-interest and to temper these concerns, but apart from the Lord's advent within our lives they will never rise above this level. The Lord is born within each of our lives within the states of mind that are willing to be affected by what the Word teaches--by the states of mind that are willing to rise above the prompting of our natural inclinations to be self-serving and natural in our interests, thoughts and actions. He is born within the states of mind that are willing to turn outward to recognize and serve the needs of those around us. He is born within the states of mind that are willing to recognize that natural things exist to serve the needs of mankind and creation as a whole and have their proper uses as well as their abuses. Our preparation for the celebration of Christmas, more than other event of the season, tends to turn people outward to others. It is a time that can help us to recognize the community of caring people that we live in. And it is a time that can remind us that many are in need--there are many people who can use our help. This help may be a matter of providing food, clothing and shelter for those have not been able to or have not yet come to be provident enough to provide them for themselves. It can be a matter of giving a hand to someone who could use some help with a job, sharing some burden with them. It can be a matter of recognizing the spiritual needs of others--recognizing that we, by our words and actions, can bring the gifts of loving warmth to another person's life. We, by our words and actions, can bring the light of greater understanding to another person's life. We have the capability of helping a person receive far greater blessings in life than they might otherwise. Our preparation for and celebration of Christmas can remind us of how a truly Christian life is one of wisely giving and of serving. The state of mind that receives this reminder is the one imaged by the virgin, Mary. The Lord comes to each of us in our lives, just as the angel Gabriel came to Mary. He comes telling of events that can take place, if we are willing, which far exceed anything we might picture ourselves. He promises us a new life, born within our own, but not taking its source from us. He promises the presence of the Holy Spirit within this new life. He comes with a miraculous intervention in the natural course of events. The words of angel Gabriel to Mary are also words to us with the promise of a new life that will profoundly affect what we care about, think and do each day throughout the year. These words are the promise a new life for each of us. As the angel Gabriel said to Mary, so the Lord would say to us, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." AMEN Lessons: Isaiah 7:1-17, Luke 1:26-38 To some it may come as a surprise to say that hereditary evil from His mother was present with the Lord, but . . . no human being can possibly be born from another human being without deriving evil from him or her. That the Lord derived hereditary evil from His mother is quite clear from the fact that He underwent temptations. Nobody can ever be tempted who has no evil, for it is the evil present with a person that tempts and by means of which he is tempted. That the Lord was tempted, undergoing temptations so serious that no other could ever endure one ten thousandth part of them, that He suffered all alone, and by His own power overcame evil, or the devil and the whole of hell, is also clear. Those temptations are spoken of in Luke as follows, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He was tempted for forty days by the devil, so that He ate nothing in those days. But after the devil had ended every temptation he departed from Him for a time. From there He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. Luke 4:1, 2, 13, 14. That the Lord bore the iniquities and evils of the human race is also a statement commonly made by preachers, yet the diversion of iniquities and evils to Himself can never come about except through a hereditary channel. The Divine cannot take evil upon Itself, and therefore in order that He might overcome evil by His own powers - which no human being has ever been able to do or ever can do - and in so doing might make Himself alone Righteousness, He was willing to be born like any other. Otherwise there would have been no need for Him to be born at all, for the Lord could have assumed Human Essence without going through the process of birth, as He had indeed sometimes done when seen by members of the Most Ancient Church, and also by prophets. Therefore in order that He might be furnished with evil against which He was to fight and over which He was to conquer, and in so doing might join together in Himself the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, He came into the world. In the Lord however there was no evil of His own, that is, He committed no actual evil, as He Himself also says in John, Who of you is going to convict Me of sin? John 8:46. Arcana Caelestia 1573: 3-4,7-8 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Dec 10 02:52:43 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 21:52:43 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] Joseph: Husband of Mary, Protector and Provider for Jesus Message-ID: <200112092152_MC3-EA08-3ECD@compuserve.com> Joseph: Husband of Mary, Protector and Provider for Jesus by the Rev. Eric H. Carswell December 9, 2001 "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21) In the familiar and beloved Christmas story recorded in the gospel of Luke, Mary's husband, Joseph, is nearly invisible. Our mind's eye, trained by many a Christmas card can picture him carefully leading a donkey that bears Mary, who will shortly be ready to give birth. We can also picture him beside Mary when the shepherds arrive the night of that wonderful birth. We can picture him, but the writer of Luke says little about him. He never speaks, and only twice is a specific reaction attributed to him, both times in concert with Mary, and also both involving a sense of wonder at this young child whom they had been given to care for. If the gospel of Luke contained all that we could know about Joseph, we would know very little. It is from the gospel of Matthew that we gain a greater sense of Joseph's role in the Christmas story. It is there that we read of him pondering whether he should quietly separate from his betrothed wife when he learns that she is expecting a child that cannot be his. There we learn of the angel coming to him in a dream, telling him why he need not fear to take Mary as his wife. It was the angel who told Joseph the child's name, and so we read that it was Joseph who called His name Jesus. (Matthew 1:24) The gospel of Matthew also tells us that it was Joseph who was warned in a dream that Herod was a threat to Jesus' life and who took Him and His mother to safety in Egypt. There again the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." (Matthew 2:20) When the little family arrived in Israel, Joseph learned that Herod's son now reigned and again a fourth dream warned him and he, Mary and the young Jesus went to Galilee. Joseph's role in the Lord's early life was essential. Mary needed a husband to protect her and her young child from scandal and social sanction. In the Jewish culture of that time, Joseph also had an important role in determining Jesus lineage. In the genealogies of both Luke and Matthew, Joseph is listed as the legal father of Jesus, through whom He was legitimately of the house of David. But beyond this legal and public need, consider that we are told that Jesus grew and developed in the same pattern that all people do, though His development was much more rapid and infinitely more perfect. Within this development a man standing in the place of a natural father would have been important. Joseph provided the material support and guidance that Mary and Jesus needed both before that first Christmas so long ago and afterwards, guiding the little family to Egypt and supporting them there and in Nazareth. What do the Writings for the New Church say directly about Joseph and the role he plays in the Christmas story? The answer is, very little. We are told that "a carpenter" represents the good of life from the doctrine of truth. (Athanasian Creed 98) This means the good things that we do from a sense of obedience to what we have learned from the Lord. Such things are indeed good, but not a very high level of good. We perform these sorts of good things when we apologize to another person because we know it is the right thing to do even when part of our mind doesn't feel the least bit sorry for what has happened. We apologize as a matter of obedience to a principle of behavior we have accepted to be good and true, not because we really feel like it. This is the good of life represented by a carpenter. It would appear that Joseph's essential role in the Christmas story has a counterpart in our own lives that also is good, but not a very high level of good. Like Joseph's role in Jesus' early life, there is a part of our mind that plays a relatively quiet role in our spiritual lives, but one that we cannot do without. Its quiet role is one of the very things that makes it hard to appreciate. The human mind finds it easier to see dramatic contrasts than small differences. Black and white stand as stark opposites, but shades of gray can be difficult to distinguish. Similarly, we can easily appreciate the difference between the truly evil person and the one who is genuinely wise and loving. The former has a potential for great evil and the latter produces many blessings by his chosen life. In the black and white difference between these two states of life, where do we place ourselves? Do we tend to see ourselves as some relatively neutral shade of gray? A knowledge of our own private failings may often suggest that we are closer to black--that we are far from being pure and white, but this suggestion is not to be relied upon. Each of us is trying--are we not? Each of us does reflect on the values expressed by our choices--do we not? Isn't each of us in our imperfection taking at least some time to think about the Lord and what His will is in our lives? Certainly, everyone begins life with inclinations to all kinds of evils. We have inclinations to all sorts of selfish and worldly desires. And we know that we must be born again or regenerated if we are to enter into the life and happiness of heaven. We also know that, in one sense, this work is the Lord's. When our old life with its inclinations is replaced by a new one, this new life is a gift from the Lord. It is not something that we have earned by our efforts, but at the same time, we know that each of us does have an essential responsibility in allowing this new life to come into existence. We know that we cannot stand with our hands at our sides waiting for the Lord to wash all the spiritual grime from our lives and turn us to dazzling white. It will not happen in a moment, and it will not happen at all unless we do our part. As we begin to advance in some area of our spiritual life, the first efforts are like a newborn life, fragile and tender. The quiet voice of a newborn conscience will cease to exist if we ignore it and act against it. We live in daily contact with life philosophies that scorn some of the ideas that genuine conscience would bring before us. Such life philosophies would place little importance in the special relationship between husband and wife and between men and women in general. They would place little importance in basic honesty and doing a just day's work, except when it would clearly advance one's own interests. Perhaps we run into ideas that question the value of spending recreation time meeting the needs of children, young people, and shut-ins. These life philosophies come to us through people we meet and things we read or watch. What we need to fear about them is that we will accept their fantasy as a reality, that we will listen to their siren song and follow their lead. The Lord works within our thoughts to raise opposition to their enticing call. We are given times of freedom, times when we do hear the tender voice of conscience calling to us to act differently. At those moments we have a very important choice. Part of us will want to do what is evil and part will want to choose to do good things. We have to choose. If we ignore the voice of conscience, if we allow its ideas to be overwhelmed by our natural desires, its voice will fade and eventually die in that area of our life. Usually we cannot picture ourselves as one of the angels in shining white who fights for the good that our conscience calls us to. As we look at ourselves in the mirror of our mind, perhaps we can think of our conscious lives as being more like Joseph than anything else. Joseph was not the father of the infant Savior and Messiah. If he could understand anything about the miracle of the virgin birth and its importance, it would probably be that the world had been given an important gift, a gift whose only source was God. We, likewise, may wonder at the growth of new loves and concerns within our own lives. We may recognize how little direct control we have over what we care about and what good ideas emerge in our thoughts. The Writings for the New Church are quite clear that while we may learn the facts of revelation like any other natural facts, by our own efforts we never acquire truths of faith; they are always gifts from the Lord. (Arcana Caelestia 5664:1) Rather than crystal clear insights, the truths that the Lord gives to us often come to our consciousness slowly. At first our understanding can seem more the product of a dream than anything reliable. Like Joseph wondering at this young child that had been given into his care, we may wonder at the miracle of our own regeneration, when we catch some glimpse of its life. But its life is not our life. Its life is a gift from the Lord. A gift more valuable than any a child's wildest imagination could ever picture under a Christmas tree. Perhaps our responsibility can be likened to that of Joseph in caring for and nurturing the growth of a new life. The insight and enthusiasm gained from listening to a powerful sermon or the moment of enlightenment following a prayer for help will vanish unless its life is prolonged by conscious choices in our day to day lives. Joseph had to make significant sacrifices for the sake of the infant Jesus--a child that he knew was not his own. Fleeing to Egypt and living there for a number of years would have been a greater challenge than most of us would willingly face. And apparently going back to Nazareth after their return from Egypt would not have been his first choice. Recall that Nazareth had such a poor reputation that one of the disciples, when he was first called, asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth." (John 1:46) In a somewhat similar way, living according to a demanding morality can be a significant challenge today. And it is such a challenge partially because the battle is not glorious nor are the rewards usually direct. There are times when people may think that you are being almost quaint because you are standing up for some principle of honesty. They may consider you rather dowdy for your unwillingness to go along with what passes for conventional morality these days. You may even be scorned for committing the great modern sin of infringing on someone else's freedom of choice by implying that what they are choosing is evil. It is hard to stand up for what is true and good partially because we know that a part of our mind would agree heartily with our worldly critics. At times our allegiance to what is true is an allegiance to something that we accept but do not feel to be our own, much like Joseph accepting Jesus as a son to raise, but knowing that He was not his own child. Perhaps we can imagine that Joseph had times when he wished that the miracle of the Lord's birth had occurred in another man's life, when he wished that his family could be perfectly normal and he could just fit into the rest of society. He had been chosen, though, for the quiet but important job of providing a home for the Messiah to grow up in. It was his job to quietly work away day by day as a carpenter providing the necessities of life while Jesus prepared for the work of His adult life. Like Joseph providing a family and home for Jesus, each of us has the daily quiet work of keeping our lives in basic order, doing what jobs that come before us and avoiding situations that might be a danger to the tender presence of the Lord in some area of our spiritual lives. While there are times of dramatic challenge like the threat of Herod to the young Jesus, mostly it is quiet day to day work. Perhaps we can gain strength from the realization that this work has such great importance, importance like that of the role that Joseph played in that first Christmas story so long ago. Perhaps we can recognize with a touch of awe, the miracle that the Lord would work within each of our lives. The miracle of our regeneration is the Lord's loving gift to us. May we, in our daily lives, provide His life with a home that His presence with us may grow in strength and wisdom, shedding blessings and light on us and all whom we touch with our lives. AMEN Lessons: Matthew 1:18-25, 2:13-15, 19-23 . . .the truth which is of faith is never procured by anyone, but is insinuated and given by the Lord, and yet seems as if we acquired them by ourselves. . . because we are profoundly ignorant that they flow in, because we does not perceive it. . . . Be it known however that it is one thing to know the truths of faith, and quite another to believe them. They who merely know the truths of faith, fill their memory with them just as they do with the facts of any other branch of knowledge. These truths we can procure for ourselves without such an influx, but they have no life, as is plain from the fact that an evil person, even the worst, can know the truths of faith just as much as an upright and pious person. . . Consequently when an evil people brings them forth, they bring them forth from the memory, and not from the heart; whereas the people who believes the truths of faith brings them forth from the heart at the same time as from the lips; for with them the truths of faith are so deeply rooted in as to have their root in the outer memory, and to grow from there toward what is interior or higher. . .They also aim at nothing else through the truths of faith than uses, which are the practices of charity, which to them are the fruits. These are the truths which we cannot procure for ourselves, even in the smallest degree; but they are freely bestowed on us by the Lord, and this in every moment of our lives, indeed, if we will believe it, without number in every moment. But because we are of such a nature as to have no perception of their flowing in, because if we had that perception we would resist, because we would believe that we would then lose our own identity, and with our own identity our freedom, and with this freedom our delight, and would thus become a nothing, it is therefore brought about that we do not know but that we procure truths of ourselves.. Moreover in order that a heavenly own and heavenly freedom may be bestowed on us, we need to do good as of ourselves and to think what is true as of ourselves; but when we reflects we should acknowledge that these are from the Lord. Arcana Caelestia 5664 (portions) From leewoof@mediaone.net Tue Dec 11 01:40:20 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 20:40:20 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Was Jesus for Real?" by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011210203455.02348eb0@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Was Jesus for Real? By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 9, 2001 Second Sunday in Advent Readings: Isaiah 53:1-6: He took up our infirmities Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity. As one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Matthew 26:36-46: Jesus prays at Gethsemane Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me." Going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want." Then he returned to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." He went away for the second time and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." Again he returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand." Arcana Coelestia #1846.3: The Lord's temptations The statements in Isaiah 53:3, 4 refer to the Lord's temptations. The words, "he has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains" do not mean that believers will not go through any temptations, nor that the Lord transferred their sins onto himself and so bore them himself. Rather, they mean that he overcame the hells through the conflicts brought about by temptations and through victories, and that in the same way he would--all by himself, even in his human essence--endure the temptations that are experienced by believers. Sermon: Surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. (Isaiah 53:4) You may be wondering why Eli read a Passion Sunday reading when we're right in the middle of Advent. Don't blame her. It was my crazy idea! It would be more traditional--and probably more pleasant--to stick with stories of angels and wise men and the baby Jesus in the manger as we approach Christmas. However, as we look back two thousand years to Jesus' birth, we know the rest of the story. We know that Jesus' birth was followed by the usual number of years of growing up in ancient Palestine, and that his brief three-year ministry begun at the age of thirty ended abruptly in the religious leaders handing him over to the Romans to be crucified. While we celebrate the wonderful birth, there is also something bittersweet about it, knowing what was to come. As we move closer to the wonder of Christmas, it is good to ask questions such as: Who was it that was born? Why? What was the meaning of the life begun by that birth? Of course, these are huge questions that we can spend a lifetime exploring. This morning, I'm thinking of one particular aspect of these questions. And I'm thinking of it because of an email in which someone asked, in essence, "If Jesus knew he was God, why was his dying on the cross particularly special or difficult? After all, he knew he would be in heaven after the suffering was over!" Another way of putting this question would be, "Wasn't Jesus just play-acting? Didn't he already know how it was going to end? Wasn't he just going through the motions as he moved toward his inevitable victory?" Or to put it in plain language, "Was Jesus for real?" This isn't just a theoretical question. Every one of us here in church today has seen our struggles in life. We have experienced pain and loss. We have experienced depression, anger, frustration, and humiliation. We have lost family members and friends whom we loved dearly. And we have at times been betrayed by people who were close to us. We have struggled to keep afloat in the world, and have struggled to keep ourselves together emotionally and spiritually. We have all seen the dark side of life. Now we are approaching our yearly celebration of Jesus' birth. And as joyful as that event is, and as central as it is to our religion and our culture, when we are struggling with the difficulties of life, Christmas may seem like a naive dream--good for children and simple-minded people, but without power to penetrate our more complex and wearying life. We might say to ourselves, "What do angels and wise men and the birth of a baby two thousand years ago have to do with my family troubles, my financial difficulties, my lost dreams and distant hopes here in the twenty-first century? What did Jesus know about all the troubles we humans face? Sure, he had to face poverty and jealous religious leaders and even death at the hands of the Romans. But he was God! It would be easy for him, with all that divine love and wisdom and power. We're just plain old ordinary people. It's different for us. How could this Jesus understand me?" This is another way of asking the same question: Was Jesus for real? Or did he just go through the motions, never being in doubt, never feeling pain, never getting discouraged, never fearing failure--as we humans do time and time again? If he was "God with us," "the Word made flesh," how could he feel anything but divine power, infinitely beyond anything that evil and all hell could throw at him? The Gospels focus on the outer words and actions of Jesus. They give us only a few brief glimpses into his inner life. One of those glimpses comes right after he was baptized, when he was "led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil" (Matthew 4:1). Another--and certainly the most penetrating one--is the story of his tremendous inner struggle in the garden of Gethsemane, as he faced his own death and the end of his work on earth. I chose that reading from the Gospel of Matthew to provide us with a window into the reality of the struggles that Jesus faced, not just on those two occasions, but throughout his life on earth. Because the Gospels give us only a few brief glimpses into Jesus' inner life, Christians throughout the centuries have turned to the prophecies of the Old Testament to gain a greater sense of who Jesus was and what his experience was like. Jesus himself said that the Scriptures testify about him (John 5:39). And after his resurrection, as he was walking along the road to Emmaus with two of his followers (who did not recognize him), he said to them: "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Didn't the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. . . . And he said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms." (Luke 24:26, 27, 44) With this knowledge--that the Scriptures do testify of Jesus--we can turn to our reading from Isaiah, and know that it speaks of the experience of the Lord while he was on earth: Surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. How could this be? How could God in the flesh bear sicknesses and carry pains? How could the Infinite God be wounded and crushed? And how could his bruises heal us? In answer to this question, I would like to offer most of the answer I gave to the person who asked the question that got my mind going in this direction in the first place--and a little bit more. First--to connect Jesus' experience on earth in with our own experience--we have times when we feel close to God and have an inner peace and joy that makes our burdens lighter, and other times when we feel that God is far away, and things look very bleak and depressing. This is part of our spiritual rebirth and growth process: facing our dark side and struggling against it as if we were all on our own; and having struggled, being given peace from our inner enemies for a time, and feeling a stronger presence of God with us. We must have our times of feeling that we are on our own and that it is all up to us (even though God is actually closest to us at those times) because otherwise the spiritual growth and development of deeper character that takes place through those excruciating times of decision would not truly be ours; it would not be real, since we would just be play-acting if we didn't feel that we were doing it on our own. Similarly, Jesus had times when he felt strongly his oneness with "God the Father"--meaning his own indwelling divine soul--and other times when he felt distant, as if he were on his own. When he was feeling his oneness with the Divine, he would say things like, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). But when he was in the throes of the struggles of temptation and feeling a separation between himself and the Divine, as happened on the cross, he would say things like, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). Because Jesus was feeling a sense of distance from God (who, as I said, was his own indwelling soul) at the time he spoke those words on the cross, the struggle was very real, and infinitely deeper than any struggle we finite humans ever go through. We face our own individual evils, and the small slice of hell that is behind them; he faced the combined force of all human evil--meaning he faced all of hell together. In fact, he even had to struggle against the angels of heaven, who were trying to relieve his suffering by attempting to convince him not to go through this final and deepest struggle--a struggle that was necessary for him to fully complete his mission on earth. At that point, Jesus felt that everything was resting on his own shoulders, and that he had to overcome in this struggle alone. Yet he was also God in the flesh, and he did overcome in the struggle. And by prevailing, he became fully Divine, and at the same time gained eternal power over hell. Now he has the power to save us from hell also, if we will turn to him and live by his commandments, and thus accept his saving power. Just as our spiritual ups and downs are part of our spiritual rebirth, or "regeneration" process, so Jesus' ups and downs were part of his "glorification" process--meaning his process of overcoming hell and evil, and uniting his human side fully with his divine side. He had to go through times of "emptying out" the limited human side that he got from his mother (which was where hell was able to attack him). Then the finite human part of himself in which he was struggling was replaced, piece by piece, with the infinite divine from within. Just as the result of our rebirth process is that we become angels, so, on a higher level, the result of Jesus' glorification process was that he became fully Divine, and one with the Father--meaning the divine love which is the center and substance of God. After the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, there was no longer any separation between the human and divine side of God. Now the Lord Jesus can be referred to as the "Divine Humanity"--fully God and fully Human at the same time. Whereas there was an alternating sense of union and separation while Jesus lived on earth, now Jesus is fully God--the same Jehovah God from eternity who is present throughout the Old Testament, yet with a human side that we can approach and have a personal relationship with. Anyone who has been through the inner, spiritual struggles of temptation knows (in our limited, human fashion) something of the experience Jesus had. When we are at our low points, we often feel that God is not there; that we are all alone. We are then in our spiritual night time, and not only is the sun (symbolizing God) gone from our spiritual sky, but sometimes the night is dark and stormy, and we don't even see the moon (our faith) or stars (our spiritual knowledge and insights). We feel that we are completely alone with no spiritual compass . . . and that we are heading to destruction. It is when we reach these extremities of inner darkness and struggle that we are fully sifted as to whether we truly wish to follow God, goodness, and truth, or whether we will give in to despair, falsity, evil, and hell. When we see no good at all for ourselves--no hope of heaven or salvation, no hope, even, for any happiness on this earth--that we are most deeply tested as to whether we will still strive for goodness and act with integrity, or will give in to our lower, self-centered desires, and the false rationalizations that go along with them. If, even when we believe nothing good will come to ourselves through clinging to goodness and truth and acting with integrity toward our fellow human beings, we still do cling to goodness, truth, and integrity, then we truly have God's love and wisdom in us. Then we have truly chosen love over selfishness, and wisdom over the foolishness of falsity. If we act with compassion and thoughtfulness toward our fellow human beings even when we believe that heaven is already closed to us, and that we will gain nothing for ourselves by our actions, then we have truly chosen to act as Jesus acted on the cross: out of love for others, with no thought of reward for ourselves. And that is the only way our love can be real. This is why Jesus had to go through the uttermost struggles with evil, darkness, and a feeling of separation from the Divine. In that extremity, Jesus chose to act with love and compassion toward humanity, even as he struggled with a sense that he had failed in his mission of salvation, and that both he and humanity were lost. As they were crucifying him, he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). And even in the midst of his own intense suffering, he took time to give words of promise and hope to the repentant and good-hearted thief who was being crucified with him (Luke 23:43), and to attend to the care of his mother, whom he was leaving behind and could no longer care for (John 19:25-27). If we will follow Jesus' example, speaking and acting with forgiveness and compassion toward our fellow human beings even when we see no hope or advantage to ourselves in it, and even when they are attacking and abusing us, then we truly have the presence of the Lord Jesus in our hearts and in our lives. And then, once our trials are past, we will find a deeper peace and joy, which the Lord can give us only when we choose the path of love, truth, and integrity while we are passing "through the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23:4)--or through the fires of the spiritual refining process of inner struggle and temptation. Because we have not thought of ourselves, but of others when we were sorely tried, the Lord Jesus can fill us with love from within, and enlighten our minds with wisdom. Then we can become angels--who do not think of their own good, but of the happiness of others and the love of God. Was Jesus for real? Jesus was more real than we can ever grasp or imagine. Jesus faced greater depths of pain and struggle than we will ever know. And he did it, not to gain anything for himself, but because he loved us so much that he was willing to go through anything--even the combined black hatred and vicious attacks of all evil and hell together--in order to take for himself the power to overcome all the evil and hell in our lives, too. Jesus will do that for each one of us if we let him. Jesus will be with us in our pain and struggle, in our depression and frustration. If we open ourselves up to the Divine presence within, and invite our Savior into our hearts, minds, and lives, the Lord Jesus will change us from the inside out, little by little, day after day, year by year--until we are reborn and re-created as angels of light. This is the Jesus whose birth we celebrate. This is our Savior, who loves us more deeply than we can comprehend; who is born, lives, dies, and rises from death to give us eternal peace and joy. This Christmas season, may we all open our hearts to Jesus. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Sun Dec 16 22:56:45 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 17:56:45 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Salvation from our Enemies," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011216175555.023f7d50@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Salvation from our Enemies By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 16, 2001 Third Sunday in Advent Readings: Psalm 138: Your right hand delivers I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; Before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple And give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness: For you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day I called, you answered me; You increased my strength of soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, For they have heard the words of your mouth. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, For great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; But the haughty he perceives from far away. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; You stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Luke: 1:67-79 Zechariah's Song John's father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he said through his holy prophets of long ago: salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us--to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." Apocalypse Explained #316.11: Salvation from falsity and evil This prophecy of Zechariah is about the Lord and his coming. "A horn of salvation in the house of David" symbolizes omnipotence to save by divine truth that comes from divine good--"horn" symbolizing omnipotence. "The house of David" is the Lord's church. The "enemies" from which he would save people are the falsities that come from evil; for these are the enemies from which the Lord saves those who receive him. It is a known fact that there were no other enemies from which the Lord saved those who are meant by "his people" in this passage. Sermon: He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he said through his holy prophets of long ago: salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. (Luke 1:69-71) Our reading from the Gospel of Luke this morning is traditionally known as "Zechariah's Song." Zechariah was a priest in the temple of the Lord. One day, while he was burning incense in the temple, an angel appeared to him and told him that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son, and that they were to call him John. This John, the angel said, would "go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). Not only was Zechariah struck with fear at the presence of this powerful angel, but he was also struck with skepticism. After all, he and his wife were well on in years, and Elizabeth was beyond the age of childbearing. Because he did not believe, the angel took away his ability to speak, and he remained mute until after his son was born, just as the angel had foretold. Zechariah did not recover his ability to speak until the eighth day after the birth, when the baby boy was to be circumcised and given his name. Those performing the ceremony were going to name the child "Zechariah," after his father. But his mother insisted that he was to be called "John"--the name that the angel had given to Zechariah for their son. So they signaled his father, who promptly wrote on a tablet, "His name is John." It was at this point that he regained his ability to speak--and his first words were to praise God. The words of "Zechariah's Song," spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, follow right after this account, giving us the sense that these were the words Zechariah used to praise God on that occasion. His praise was a prophecy about the coming of the Lord to save the people from their enemies, and about the role of his newborn son--later known as John the Baptist--in preparing the way for that great and wonderful coming. "The Lord has come and has redeemed his people," Zechariah said. And that redemption involved "salvation from our enemies." Salvation from our enemies. The Jewish people had plenty of enemies at that time. Their greatest enemy was the Roman empire--a foreign power that had conquered their land, and ruled them with a firm hand that brooked no opposition. Because of the many prophecies in the Hebrew Bible about the Messiah coming to defeat the enemies of Israel, most of the people naturally assumed that when the Messiah came, he would throw off all foreign rulers, and re-establish Israel as a strong and independent nation. Zechariah may have been thinking this when he spoke his prophecy. Even the Lord's own apostles apparently still thought this after the Lord's resurrection--despite all his teachings about his kingdom not being of this world. In the opening scene of the Acts of the Apostles--which tells us of Jesus' appearance to his apostles over a period of forty days after his resurrection--we are told of a brief conversation in which the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). Perhaps it was not until the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles like tongues of fire, that they truly began to understand that the kingdom they were called to preach to all the people was a spiritual and heavenly one, not an earthly one. Emanuel Swedenborg, in commenting on Zechariah's statement that the Lord would bring "salvation from our enemies," puts it bluntly. "It is a known fact," he writes, "that there were no other enemies besides the falsities that come from evil from which the Lord saved those who are meant by 'his people' in this passage." When I read this statement, I had to stop and think about it. And the more I did, the more I realized that Swedenborg had put his finger on something that is critical to understand about the salvation that the Lord brought to the ancient Jewish people--and that he brings to us today. The fact is, Jesus did not save the people from a single earthly enemy! And any time his followers wanted to draw swords and engage in physical combat, he told them in no uncertain terms that this was _not_ what his kingdom was about. Once, when the people intended to make him king by force, he avoided this by retreating to a mountain by himself (John 6:15). And in a story told (with some variation) in all four Gospels, when one of Jesus followers--identified as Simon Peter in the Gospel of John--drew his sword to protect Jesus from the mob that had come to take him away to his death, cutting off the right ear of the high priest's servant, Jesus said, "No more of this!" and promptly restored the man's ear by his healing power (Luke 22:47-51). It was shortly after this, when Pilate was questioning Jesus, that Jesus said plainly, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place" (John 18:36). Now we can understand why Jesus was so quick to tell Peter to put his sword away! To fight the mob would have been to completely misrepresent the nature of the Lord's kingdom. What was the nature of the Lord's kingdom? The conversation with Pilate continues: "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:37) Pilate didn't understand what Jesus was talking about. "What is truth?" he famously replied. His was an earthly kingdom maintained by force of arms. He couldn't understand this "heavenly kingdom" that Jesus talked about, though Jesus himself had a strange hold upon Pilate's mind--so much so that he attempted to free him, but to no avail. What is truth? And what is the kingship of the Lord? What is this reason for which the Lord Jesus was born? To testify to the truth? Jesus used no sword, and rarely engaged in physical confrontations. He forbade his followers to fight for him. His kingdom came from above, he said. He didn't do any of the things that a worldly ruler should do. Kings and politicians throughout the ages, and right up to this day, tell the people what they want to hear in order to captivate their minds and hearts, and make themselves popular and powerful. Kings and politicians freely use weaponry and military might in order to establish their power. Jesus didn't engage in these power games. Though he would have been perfectly capable of obtaining a worldly kingdom for himself, he never let himself waver from a higher kingdom and a higher calling. "For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." It was with the "sword of his mouth" (Revelation 2:16) that he fought his battles, and secured his kingdom. The enemies that the Lord came to save us from were not oppressive kings and armies of soldiers. The Lord came to save us from the armies of hell and evil, and from slavery to the oppressive kings of false principles that lead to materialism, greed, selfishness, jealousy, and every other evil and sinful thing that will make us its slave if we yield to its power. The battles of the Lord were not physical, but spiritual ones. They were battles for the minds and hearts of human beings, and for the soul of humanity. They were battles to free us from the enslaving power of our own selfishness and greed, so that instead of groveling before the temporary and fleeting power and pleasures of the material world, we would rise in spirit to the eternal realities of love and wisdom, understanding and kindness, and peace with our fellow human beings. The Lord fought with the sword of his mouth--which was the divine truth--to give us salvation from our _spiritual_ enemies. As an example, in the Gospel of Matthew, he gives us these beautiful and powerful words: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the nations run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:25-33) "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." These are the words Swedenborg put at the very beginning of his first published religious work, _Arcana Coelestia_ (_Secrets from Heaven_). If we will follow them in our lives, seeking first to learn God's will for us and to put it into practice every day, the Lord Jesus, whose birth we celebrate in this season, will save us from all our spiritual enemies--our inner demons--and will give us the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From leewoof@mediaone.net Tue Dec 25 02:55:54 2001 From: leewoof@mediaone.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2001 21:55:54 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] "Visitors from Beyond," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.20011224215427.020e96a0@pop.ne.mediaone.net> Visitors from Beyond By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 24, 2001 Christmas Eve Readings Isaiah 40:1-11: Comfort my people, says the Lord Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: "In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together--for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All people are like grass; their glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever." You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain! You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout! Lift it up; do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. His reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He tends his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Luke 1:26-35: The angel Gabriel announces Jesus' birth In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was very perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God." True Christian Religion: #774 The Lord's coming to us The Lord is always present with every one of us, whether we are evil or good; for no one could live without his presence. But the Lord comes to us only when we receive him--which we do when believe in him and keep his commandments. The Lord's continual presence is what gives us rationality and the ability to become spiritual. We gain these abilities from the light that comes from the Lord as the sun of the spiritual world--a light that we can accept in our understanding. That light is the truth, and it gives us our rational abilities. However, Lord comes to us when we put warmth together with that light--in other words, when we put love together with the truth. For the warmth radiated by the spiritual sun is love for God and love for our neighbor. The Lord's presence by itself, and the enlightenment that it brings to our understanding, is like the presence of sunlight in the world; unless it is together with warmth, everything on earth is barren. But the Lord's coming is like the arrival of warmth, which happens in the springtime. Since there is then warmth together with the light, the earth is softened up, and seeds sprout and bear fruit. Sermon: The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35) Yesterday during our Christmas Sunday service, the Sunday School children and their teachers presented a Christmas Pageant that was just a little bit different: "An Alien Christmas." In this delightful pageant, aliens come from another world just before Christmas, and ask the Earthlings they meet what this tree decorating and cookie baking and present wrapping is all about. And they get their answer: it's about love and sharing, friends and family--and the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable two thousand years ago. Now, some of us may believe in aliens, and some of us may not. So let me be right out front and say that I, for one, do believe in aliens. After all, with countless galaxies out there, each containing billions of stars, it would be very strange if least some of those stars didn't have solar systems with garden planets like ours, where intelligent civilizations have developed and continue to thrive. Most scientists who have thought about it seem to agree that there's a pretty good chance that intelligent life exists on other planets in our universe--and some think it is probably very common. Still, even though I do love a good Science Fiction movie or novel--especially if they have some really great aliens!--I have my doubts about whether any intelligent beings from other planets have ever visited our earth. I figure that if something that amazing and important had happened, we would all know about it. For scientists, this would be one of the greatest discoveries of all time, and our whole culture would take it as an established fact. Or maybe not. After all, it's a part of our Christian belief that an even more amazing event happened two thousand years ago. Yet perhaps only a quarter of the world's population is classified as Christian; and even in the so-called "Christian World," only a fraction of the population truly believes that Jesus Christ was, as the Gospel says, "the son of God." Of course, there are plenty of reasons for thinking people to be skeptical about the claims of the Gospels. Many people simply can't accept the idea that there is a God or a spiritual level of reality. To these people, the Gospels--and the rest of the Bible--are at best fascinating myths that tell something about the cultural anthropology of the people who lived several thousand years ago--not to mention of believers today. Both secular skeptics and religious non-Christians can point out that the idea of a baby who is the product of a god mating with a human being is a common theme in mythologies from around the world. One of the best known from our own cultural past is Hercules (now a popular TV program!) whose father was the god Zeus, and whose mother was a mortal woman named Alcmene. This half-human, half-divine strongman had to perform twelve heroic tasks, called "labors," before himself being given immortality and elevated into the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods. The parallels are obvious with the story of Jesus' birth as the son of God through the virgin Mary, his many miracles, which reach their climax in his resurrection from death after the crucifixion, and finally his ascension into heaven to "sit at the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19), as the Bible expresses it. There is no shortage of material in human science, literature, and history to cause thoughtful people to have doubts about the truth of the Gospel account. Because of this, among the intelligentsia of the scientific and literary world, it is no more fashionable to believe that Jesus Christ was a visitor to our earth from the heavenly realms than it is to believe that aliens visited our earth millions of years ago and provided the genetic material on which all life on earth is based--a staple of popular Science Fiction. Such beliefs are seen as fantasy and wishful thinking for an uneducated population. Marxist or not, many of these skeptics would agree with Karl Marx's statement that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Still, there is another way to look at all of this. Many scholars have seen the miracle stories in the world's scriptures, myths, and legends as an effort of the human psyche to reach beyond the ordinary and mundane world of our everyday affairs to something higher. And I'm not the first one to suppose that our culture's fascination with aliens--not to mention the "alien encounters" that some people either believe in or claim to have experienced--is another expression of our human yearning for something beyond this world, with all its darkness, greed, and sorrow so painfully mixed with its joys and pleasures. Must these deep human yearnings be without any satisfaction? Just because we know that our desire for something greater than our everyday, humdrum, and sometimes very painful lives does at times lead us to believe things that are more fanciful than real, does this necessarily mean that there is no fire concealed behind all that smoke? Or to put it plainly, though we can find plenty of reasons for skepticism, isn't it possible that our earth really has received visitors from worlds beyond our own? The fundamental question is whether there really are angels, as the Bible and other sacred literature around the world says. And even more than that, whether there truly is a God up there who loves us. This is a question that neither science nor literary criticism can answer--which an honest scientist or critic will admit. Science is the study of physical reality; but God and the angels are spiritual beings. Literature is a human production; but God is divine, and the angels inhabit a world beyond this human one. In other words, from a scientific or literary standpoint, we simply don't know whether God and the angels exist--and whether they have ever visited us here on earth. This leaves us in complete freedom to make up our own minds whether we wish to believe in God and spirit, or whether we do not. And that's just how God wants it. Now let's look at it from the other side: from God's perspective. What if there really is a God up there who created us? A God who understands us perfectly, inside and out? A God who loves us with an infinitely warm and powerful love? What if we do have a divine Parent who knows us and loves us better than any human parent could? And what if this God saw that we were lost; that we were hurting and in pain; that we needed help? If you see your children or loved ones hurting and in pain, do you stand by doing nothing? Don't you go to them and give them a hug--or at least a pat on the back--and help them along? God loves us with that kind of love. And God could never stand by doing nothing while humanity struggles with the painful and destructive effects of our own greed and power-hungriness, our own anger, apathy, and depression. A God who truly loves us and understands us would come to us and help us in our time of struggle. This is the wonder Jesus' birth. It is the story of a visitor from another world--God, the Creator of the universe!--coming to us with divine love and light. When we open our minds to that light, and our hearts to that love, then the Lord has come to us, too. Amen. ____________________ Pastor's email address: leewoof@mediaone.net Church web site: http://www.ForMinistry.com/02324NJC Denominational web site: http://www.swedenborg.org These sermons are a ministry of the Bridgewater New Jerusalem Church. If you wish to support the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church 88 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 We also accept credit card donations via PayPal: https://secure.paypal.com/affil/pal=LarryC%40TMLP.com New PayPal users must complete a simple sign-up. Make your donation to LarryC@TMLP.com (Treasurer), Bridgewater Society of the New Jerusalem. Thank you! From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Dec 31 16:06:37 2001 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2001 11:06:37 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] Seeing Patterns Message-ID: <200112311106_MC3-EC43-EB62@compuserve.com> SEEING PATTERNS by the Rev. Eric H. Carswell December 30, 2001 And Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?" So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." (I Kings 22:7-8) King Ahab is almost a comical figure in his complaining about the bad news he always hears from a prophet of the Lord. The most amazing quality of his response is that he seems completely unaware of the fact that he is personally responsible for the evil prophesy that always comes his way. Ahab had noted that there was a clear pattern in what he heard, but it was not in his will to see that he could do anything about it. Without patterns in life we could learn nothing. If there was no order to the world that our mind could recognize, we would be continuously overwhelmed with a clutter of sights, sounds, smells, sense of touch and we would be terribly limited in making any kind of choice. For example, what if sometimes the pews you're sitting in had no more strength than thin cardboard and sometimes held you up as they do now? You would never know whether they were safe to sit on. What if sometimes your favorite kind of apple had it normal juicy flavor and other times, without any change in appearance, tasted terribly wretched? Wouldn't you hesitate before bitting into one? In our relationships with other people the patterns aren't always as clear. We sometimes are greatly surprised by the responses that others give us when we say or do something. We can think we are making a perfectly innocuous comment only to have someone explode in anger apparently as a result of what we said. We can try to be helpful and instead only makes a problem worse. Soon we will mark the end of one calendar year and the beginning of a new one. It is common for many people to use this yearly transition to reflect on what has occurred in the past year. You can see magazine articles that review the year in pictures that consider who has made a particularly notable contribution of the years events. A person can also take stock of his or her own life over the past year and reflect on the patterns reflected by the events that have occurred. The Lord strongly encourages us to do this kind of reflection. Even if this particular time of the year does not seem to be opportune for such consideration, it is absolutely vital that we make time for recognizing the key patterns in our lives: patterns in what we care about and think, patterns in what we say and do and patterns in the results that those words and actions produce. If we don't see any patterns, we will not be learning much and will probably continue in habits that aren't good for ourselves and aren't good for the people around us as well. Ahab as a king represents the understanding part of our mind that directs the decisions we make and our perspective on what is most important. The Lord has given us the capability of freely reflecting on our spiritual and natural patterns of life. As stated in Divine Providence 278, we are given the capability of looking at these things because we have the possibility of higher and lower thought, or interior and exterior thought. From the higher or interior thought we can look at what is happening in lower or more exterior plane of our minds. We have the capability of noting that we are in good or bad moods or that we are thinking more or less clearly than usual. But by ourselves, all of this capability would not mean a tremendous amount because there are crucial patterns in life that natural observation does not give a person. The prophet, Micaiah, who Ahab viewed as a trouble maker represents truth from the Lord that must have its initial source in Divine revelation. Without Divine revelation there is much that we could not possibly know as clearly stated in the following passage from the Writings. . . .without the Word no one would possess spiritual intelligence, which consists in having knowledge of a God, of heaven and hell, and of a life after death; nor would know anything whatever about the Lord, about faith in Him and love to Him, nor anything about redemption, by means of which nevertheless comes salvation. As the Lord also says to His disciples: "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5); and to John:"A person can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven" (John 3:27). (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 114) It is important for us to learn about the Lord and about what is true and good from the Word. But your knowledge and mine is relatively useless we recognize how its description of what is real and its description of the consequences of certain patterns of concern, thought, speech and action relate to our own lives. By ourselves we don't want to see these patterns in our own lives. . . .from themselves people do not desire to understand anything but that which comes from what is their own in their will, and also that it is not possible for them to do so unless there is some other source from which they may know it. From what is their own in their will people do not desire to understand anything except that which relates to themselves and to the world; everything above this is to them in thick darkness. (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 115) Yet we have been clearly taught that above ourselves and the things of the natural world is a spiritual world that is actually more real and more lasting than this world. We have been clearly taught that our minds and spirits are constantly in the company of other spirits from that world. Without their presence we would have no thought nor would we care about anything. As we pursue our daily patterns of thought and action, we are strengthening ties to communities of those spirits. Our daily choices are spiritual investments in our eternal future. Some people are day by day connecting themselves ever more clearly to communities of spirits that will guarantee that they will feel critical of others and easily offended by the slightest inconvenience that crosses their path. Some are connecting themselves ever more clearly to communities of spirits that make it almost impossible for them to tell the truth to themselves and others--any troublesome event will be explained away or justified. Others are connecting themselves to communities who find their greatest delight in being of service to the people around them. Still others are connecting themselves to communities who really care about understanding what is true because they know that this is the only way they will be able to truly follow the Lord. The single community in the next life, either in heaven or hell, that we connect ourselves to most closely by our daily choices will be the one in which we live to eternity after death. How can we know what kind of communities we are connecting ourselves to? By reflecting on the patterns in our own lives from a knowledge of what is true. People who reflect, or are able to reflect, upon the affections of good and truth in themselves, and also upon their delight and pleasure, will notice a strong inclination for [some affections] in preference to another; but without reflection these and the like things do not appear. (Arcana Caelestia 3980) Ahab didn't want to see the patterns in his life that condemned some of his actions. He would prefer to listen to false prophets who promised wonderful things, but he could not escape the reality of the order that the Lord created. Whether he wanted to listen to it or not, the consequences of that order would influence his life. Where will each of us find ourselves in the life after death? The Writings say that if we have a knowledge of how different good and evil loves correspond to different beautiful and ugly environments then we can know what our lot to eternity will be. This is described in the following passage from the book of the Writings called Heaven and Hell. People who are engaged in [a knowledge of correspondences] can recognize and know their state after death provided they know their love and how it relates in its nature to the dominant love to which all love goes back. However, people who are involved in self-love cannot know what their dominant love is because they love whatever is theirs and call their evils good. They also call false things true, the false notions that support them and that they use to rationalize their evils. If they were willing, though, they could still know [their dominant love] from other people who are wise, but these latter see what they themselves do not. This does not happen, though, in the case of people who are so enmeshed in their self-love that they have nothing but contempt for any teaching of the wise, who are wise, and who see what they themselves do not see. This however, is impossible with those who are so enticed by the love of self that they spurn all teaching of the wise. On the other hand, people who are in heavenly love do accept instruction and do see the evils into which they were born when they are led into them. They see them from truths because truths make evils obvious. Anyone can in fact see what is evil and the distortion it causes by seeing from the truth that arises from what is good; but no one can see what is good and true from an evil standpoint. This is because the false notions that arise from evil are darkness and correspond to it. So people who are caught up in false notions, [concepts and prejudices] that arise from evil are like blind people who do not see things that are in the light, and they avoid them the way owls avoid daylight. (Heaven and Hell 487) It's not enough to just acknowledge that we all have spiritual faults and flaws. This acknowledgment can be utterly worthless and is so described in the True Christian Religion. Cannot anyone understand, from the reason given him, that the mere lip-confession of being a sinner is not repentance, or the recounting of various particulars in regard to . . . ? For what is easier for a person when he is in trouble and agony, than to utter sighs and groans from his lungs and lips, and also to beat his breast and make himself guilty of all sins, and still not be conscious of any sin in himself? Do the diabolical horde who then occupy his loves, depart along with his sighs? Do they not rather hiss at those things, and remain in him as before, as in their own house? From this it is clear that such repentance is not what is meant in the Word; but repentance from evil works, as is said. (True Christian Religion 529) Do you know what quality in your life you would most like to see improvement on over the next year? The Lord does not recommend that we take on too many issues at once. He describes very clearly the steps we are to take if we are to improve spiritually. The question therefore is, How ought a person to repent? And the reply is, Actually; that is to say, he must examine himself, recognize and -knowledge his sins, pray to the Lord, and begin a new life. That without examination repentance is not possible, has been shown in the preceding section. But of what use is examination except that one may recognize his sins? And why should he recognize his sins, except that he may acknowledge that they are in him? And of what use are these three things, except that a person may confess his sins before the Lord, pray for help, and then begin a new life, which is the end sought? This is actual repentance. (True Christian Religion 530) The Lord wants us to be truly happy. He wants us to have the joy of using the gifts and talents that He has given us to make the world around us a better place to be for others and for ourselves. He has given us His Word to help us learn what we must know if we are to make good decisions and follow the Lord ever more clearly in our lives. We need to learn from the Word and we need to use what we learn to reflect on the patterns in our concerns, thoughts, words, and actions. As we look to a new calendar year, may each of us commit ourselves to the personal work that will help this year be a better year for us and for all those who come in contact with us. Amen. Lessons: I Kings 22:1-9, 15-18 Evils cannot be removed unless they appear This does not mean that people are to do evil things in order that they may appear, but that they are to examine themselves, not their actions only, but also their thoughts, and what they would do if they were not afraid of the laws and disgrace; especially what evils they hold in their spirit to be allowable and do not regard as sins; for these they still commit. In order that human beings may examine themselves an understanding has been given them, and this understanding is separate [to a degree]from their will, that they may know, understand and acknowledge what is good and what is evil; and also that they may see the quality of their will, or what it is they love and desire. In order that people may see this each of them have been furnished with an understanding capable of higher and lower thought, or interior and exterior thought, to enable them to see from higher or interior thought what their will is doing in the lower or exterior thought. This they see as a person sees his face in a mirror; and when they see it and know what sin is, they are able, if they implore the help of the Lord, not to will it, but to shun it and afterwards to act against it; if not wholeheartedly, still they can exercise constraint upon it by fighting against it, and at length turn away from it and hate it. Now, and not before, they will first perceive and also feel that evil is evil and that good is good. This then is what is involved in examining oneself, seeing one's evils and recognising them, confessing them and afterwards desisting from them. Divine Providence 278 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments.